On Wednesday, the Denver Rescue Mission prepared its annual Great Thanksgiving Banquet for hundreds of guests. The kitchen staff was up before sunrise at the Lawrence Street Community Center.
"Today is going to be a first for a lot of our chefs, because they haven’t cooked for this many people in one specific meal period," said Food Service Manager Kevin Baker.
Staff and volunteers began preparing for the meal in early November. They prepare enough food to feed 2,000 people to make sure everyone gets enough to eat.
They expect to serve 60 turkeys, 4,500 biscuits, 40 pounds of gravy and 75 pounds of stuffing. Many of the cooks preparing the meal have gone through Rescue Mission programs.
"Our New Life (Program) participants actually get to give back," Baker said. "We’re all about giving people a hand up and not a hand out and we want to change them from the inside out."
The governor helped kick off the meal at noon. Denver7's Anne Trujillo was among the 60 volunteers giving their time to serve food.
On Thursday, the Salvation Army will host a Thanksgiving dinner at the Colorado Convention Center.
