DES MOINES, Iowa — We are one week away from Turkey Day and many Iowans are in need of a warm holiday meal. Organizations around the community are working to ensure people have a full plate. A task they said has been harder to pull off this year compared to most.
Many of us have Thanksgiving traditions, whether it's feasting with our family or watching the Thanksgiving Day Macy's Parade, but for Paul Tullis it's less about eating the turkey and stuffing, and more about serving those who would otherwise go without.
"I am the founder of the Parks Community Thanksgiving Dinner, and this is our 40th year. I am real proud that I'm still around for it,' Tullis told Local 5.
The Parks Community Thanksgiving Dinner offers a free meal on the holiday at Chuck's restaurant in Des Moines, a tradition Tullis and his late wife started 40 years ago.
"My wife would be very happy that we're still doing this, you know. And hopefully it'll go 40 more years or longer after I'm gone," Tullis said.
This year he said feeding the community has been harder than most. Thursday afternoon the team reached their quota of over 3,200 meal requests.
"This is the earliest in the 40 years that we have ever reached our quota that early. Usually it's like the day before Thanksgiving, or right on Thanksgiving," Tullis said.
And Tullis isn't alone. WesleyLife's Meals on Wheels will spend Thanksgiving morning delivering holiday meals to at least 200 central Iowa adults and veterans.
However, organizer Shannon Draayer said they aren't able to squeeze in any more requests.
"We are always seeing an increase in need, and particularly this year and with Thanksgiving, we are at capacity for the number of Thanksgiving meals that we're able to deliver, and we know that there could be more people, broadly in our community that do need support," Draayer said.
The increase of people needing help has only motivated Tullis to keep going, and he said those who couldn't secure a holiday meal through his organization ahead of time can always come to Chuck's to start a new holiday tradition.
"Usually there's around 100 people or so that come eat in. There's usually a lineup out at Chuck's, and we let them in around 10 o'clock or so, you know, and we just serve until we run out of food," Tullis said.