ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Holidays can be difficult for college students, with families across the country. One bakery in Rochester is opening its doors to them.

It’s a family affair inside the kitchen at Golden Harvest Bakery & Cafe. The Reed girls were busy doubling checking recipes and peeling the last of the potatoes. They prepared everything for Thanksgiving dinner with their family and about 90 college students.

Owners Emily and Joel Reed always dreamed of using their bakery to give back to Rochester’s deaf community. Last year they opened their doors, welcoming in students from the nearby National Technical Institute for the Deaf who needed a place to spend Thanksgiving. Last year, about 40 students attended. This year's Friendsgiving doubled in size.

“We are very blessed to be able to give back and share," Emily Reed said. "That’s our reward."

Holidays can be an isolating time for students in the deaf community, the Reeds say. Distance and language barriers can make celebrating with family hard. Obstacles that disappear when they fill these tables inside the bakery. 

“We can celebrate together as a community that signs and relates to each other," NTID student Dakota Tiger said. "We don’t have to ask, ’What did you say’, we’re all together. We're all on the same page."

Dinner is free. With the Reed family and volunteers making it all. Hundreds of pies, 20 pounds of potatoes, 70 servings of cranberries and, of course, dozens of turkeys will soon find their way to the plates of students. The students will soon find a community ready to welcome them. 

“That’s what life is all about," Reed said. "It’s not always your blood family. It’s about the people you’re surrounded with."