Volunteers prepare thousands of Thanksgiving meals to be served for homeless across city

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Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Volunteers prepare thousands of meals to be served on Thanksgiving
Volunteers began preparing thousands of Thanksgiving dinners to be served across Chicago.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- If you cook for Thanksgiving Day, then you know it takes time to prepare.

Some volunteers are getting a two-day head start, planning to feed thousands of people in need.

A morning roll call sets the tone for a two-day mission to help feed people this upcoming holiday.

Tuesday morning inside of Guaranteed Rate Field, volunteers with Chicago-based hospitality company Levy Restaurants are preparing made-from-scratch Thanksgiving meals for people in need to be served on Thursday at the Salvation Army Freedom Center.

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"A full-service sit down meal with servers, beverages and a full meal," Chef Robin Rosenberg of Levy Restaurants. "And, they can have seconds. They can have thirds. Whatever they want."

It's an effort with the Salvation Army that Chef Rosenberg has spearheaded for the last six years.

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This year, he said 3,000 meals are being prepared.

"On Thursday morning, they come in at four in the morning and help me heat everything and transport it to the Salvation Army," Rosenberg said. "And, to do that, it takes a lot."

But nothing these volunteers aren't equipped for, showing some holiday care for people who need it the most.

"What we really want to stress is to have these people have a meal like they should have," Roseberg said. "Like they are at home and their mother's cooking."

As these 3,000 meals are being prepared for Thanksgiving Day, the chef said that a-thousand of them will go out to various homeless sites throughout the city.

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