SAN ANTONIO — Not everybody has a place to eat this Thanksgiving, but the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner is taking care of many on Thursday, making sure they have a hot, holiday meal.
Just how many exactly? 25,000 people! 20,000 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, and 5,000 more at home. This is the 44th year for the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. The first one was held back in 1979.
This is one of the largest Thanksgiving benefits in the country. The event invites seniors to dine at a "community dinner table," and celebrate the holiday with their peers, friends, and enjoy live music and entertainment. In 1979 Raul Jimenez, who was a restaurant owner here in San Antonio, saw the need in this community and established this massive Thanksgiving Day event designed to serve those forgotten individuals, including senior citizens who may have a hard time cooking, or even affording a holiday meal for themselves. And they're getting that here with a full Thanksgiving dinner, including all of the trimmings.
How much food was served throughout the day? 9,400 pounds of turkey. 6,250 pounds of stuffing. 6,250 pounds of green beans. 650 pounds of gravy. 4,688 pounds of yams. 4,688 pounds of cranberry sauce. 25,000 dinner rolls, one for each meal of course, and 5,000 pumpkin pies.
Raul Jimenez III, the great grandson of the original Raul Jimenez, told us, "When we go through the motions we see there are a lot of people that need that hope and that restart button. And I think that is what the dinner is all about. It is the first holiday for the holiday season and Thanksgiving is just one more day to count our blessings and be thankful for the things we have."
Over 4,000 volunteers make this huge dinner happen.