On Thursday, volunteers with the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association got together to prepare and serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal to veterans in Central Arkansas.
The free lunch was served at St. Francis House, which is currently home to 34 transitioning vets.
“We prepare food, we serve it, and we of course socialize and visit with the veteran,” said Patricia Terry, the Public Relations Officer for the Central Arkansas Chapter of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association.
She was just one of the many volunteers who spent part of her Thanksgiving helping transitioning veterans feel at home.
“They may or may not have family so if it wasn’t for us doing it they may not have a thanksgiving dinner, so this gives them a little bit of normalcy to go through a regular holiday,” said Terry.
That was the case for George Paul who served in Vietnam.
“I didn’t have no other place to go, my family is scattered,” said Paul.
He said Thanksgiving can be tough for those who don’t have someone to share a meal with.
“I have a bad feeling about thanksgiving at times because that’s when I lost my mother and grandmother,” said Paul.
Veterans who spoke to THV11 said not only were they thankful for the home cooked meal, but they were also thankful to be spending time with their fellow veterans.
“You see a lot of people and a lot of veterans and just by looking at them you can kind of tell what they went through in the service and how they’re functioning now in society,” said Jimmy Martin who served in Vietnam.
For those with transportation barriers, St. Francis offered a shuttle service, so no one missed out on the festivities.
Although the CVMA has only been doing this for three years, organizers said they hope to do it for years to come.
A guided duck hunt with "Dirty Water Waterfowl,” was raffled to fund the Thanksgiving meal.