FORT CARSON, Colo. — A plan to offer a Thanksgiving meal to around 3,000 people in the Pikes Peak Region was possible because of help from Fort Carson soldiers.
“We're feeding 3,000. We're making 3,000 meals,” Chief Warrant Officer, Frank Peterson, said.
Soldiers volunteered their culinary skills to help The Salvation Army with its Thanksgiving community meal.
“It makes me feel good to give back to the community and give back to what they give to us,” Sergeant Marissa Rivera said.
Planning started a couple months back.
The days for cooking and carving required teamwork.
“Once you start going you just come up with a system and we cycle throughout the soldiers each of us had our own role and it made everything easier,” Rivera said.
There were also side dishes that had to come together in the hours just before it was time to serve.
A crew of 13 volunteers filled eight-hour shifts cooking and carving turkeys around the clock for several days leading up to Thanksgiving.
“Their morale is pretty high given the fact that they're working - you know - around the clock and even on Thanksgiving but they they're enjoying it and they're liking it,” Peterson said.
Thanksgiving morning, all the food was turned over to Salvation Army volunteers who serve and deliver the meals across the Pikes Peak Region.
