ACADIANA (KLFY) -- Nonprofit organization Love of People collaborated with volunteers in Youngsville and Sunset to provide 5,000 Thanksgiving dinners for families in need.

Three thousand of the meals were prepared at the Sunset Community Center while the remaining 2,000 were prepared by Youngsville Industrial Safety Solutions Group.

Johnathan Williams, with Love of People, said it's amazing to see so many young volunteers in this cause.

"We started this at Grand Coteau and Sunset 11 years ago with 139 meals, and what it's grown into today is a miracle. A lot of these kids, they were carried here, rolled in strollers after 11 years and now we have kids that were here in college, came back home to volunteer for this, it doesn't stop. The gift keeps on giving," Williams said.

Ray Flores, CEO of Industrial Safety Solutions in Youngsville, said he is grateful to assist Love of People with their mission. He said his goal is to ensure that less fortunate families don't go hungry on Thanksgiving.

"Everybody here today just feels extremely blessed and we want to make sure that there's nobody hungry in Acadiana as much as possible," Flores said.

Chad Theriot, a dedicated volunteer at the location, said he and his family now volunteer every Thanksgiving instead of just cooking for themselves. He said community service offers bonds to be formed amongst one another.

"If you keep looking online and what's out there in the world, it kind of makes you think we're not all connected, you come out here we're all connected," Theriot said.

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