WACO, Texas — Janee Miller woke up bright and early on Thanksgiving to spend her morning giving back to her community as a volunteer with Friends for Life.
"I think that it's good for the soul," she told 25 News. "If you're a Christian and a Christ follower, there's a spirit within you that says we need to be there for our neighbors."
She was just one of the hundreds of volunteers who worked together to help feed the growing need across Waco.
"I'm just so glad that Friends for Life hears the call of the need and want to fulfil that," Miller said. "I'm thankful for everyone who donated so there was enough food and money to actually give."
This was the 26th year for the Friends for Life thanksgiving food handout and they gave out more food than ever before, serving about 700 meals this year.
"There's more people out there in need," Volunteer Coordinator Kay Johnson said. "We have more clients that we see with the economy and there's a lot more people that are homebound and are not getting out."
Despite serving almost 300 people more than they had last year, Johnson said they also saw a huge increase in volunteers that helped them keep up.
"We had so many volunteers show up that we prepped and packaged and got them out way before the time frame that we thought so we were excited that we had so many people come out," Johnson said.
People like Miller who said it was a great way to start their holiday.
"Everybody has the time to give and I'm happy I decided to give that time away today," she said.
Friends for Life will also host gift wrapping parties on December 2 and 9 from 10am to 2pm. They are looking for volunteers to help wrap about 2,000 gifts for homebound people in the area.
