Thanksgiving is a day full of traditions and food, many of which overlap. At the Samaritan Center in Syracuse, feeding the hungry isn't a tradition, it's what they do every day. On today's menu: turkey with all the fixings.

Typically, the Samaritan Center would be getting ready to host hundreds of community members for a Thanksgiving feast, but instead volunteers have been working since yesterday to prepare meals to-go. 

Due to concerns over COVID-19, the center will only be letting about 50 or 60 people inside at a time, and they will be trying to keep the line moving to limit exposures as much as possible.

Representatives I've talked with from the center say this year may not feel like the family gathering of years past, but the main goal remains the same: no one goes hungry.

Hundreds of plates were given out in the first two and a half hours of service, along with other important items ahead of the winter like fresh socks, gloves and hand warmers, and other essentials like dental hygiene kits and chap stick. Volunteers say giving back is an important part of Thanksgiving.

Even without a sharing the meal, providing help during the holidays is priority number one.

"We are all very close at any time from having something to needing something. So if the community is there, than that's the only way we can continue to move forward. It's everything," said Samaritan Center Board Member Tom Resch.

To-go meals can be picked up until 2:30 p.m. Thursday. More information about the Samaritan Center can be found here.