BUFFALO, N.Y. — One local church decided to get a head start on the Thanksgiving holiday by serving a free meal to people in the community.
At the Soul Saving Revival Center on Fillmore Avenue, guests were greeted Saturday with warm plates and warm smiles.
"It's our 14th year that we've been serving the community," Elder Robert Robinson of the Soul Saving Revival Center said.
The church's free Thanksgiving dinner has become a tradition for its members. Robinson, who helps oversee the event, says it's about serving a higher power.
"It's just ... it's a community effort. The scripture tells us about everybody having one heart one soul," he said.
The meal is free for all who walk in the doors.
People of all ages come, and the event offers free food and clothing for all who come in an effort to help as many people as possible.
Robinson says as the need grows, he and his church try to meet it.
"Anything that we can do to let the community know that we're here, that what we'll do," he said. "We've been averaging about 500 families throughout the whole 12 to 6 p.m."
The doors were open Saturday, but Robinson says he hopes the tradition will continue and the services will go beyond the churches walls
"We're here, and we're just willing to help, and so we're reaching out to y'all," Robinson said.
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