SAN ANTONIO — The turkeys arriving at the Henry B. González Convention Center may not get a celebration this year and the calls for more food will go unanswered, as the hall won't be lined with hundreds of tables filled with thousands of people.
"We've had to adjust and pivot," Jessica Jimenez the granddaughter of the late Raul Jimenez said.
But regardless of the changes, Jessica tells KENS 5 the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner will live on.
"We won't be able to do the mass gathering of 25,000 people, but we're adjusting and finalizing logistics so we can serve up to 10,000 meals to fellow San Antonians," she said via Zoom.
Rather than to your table, this year, Thanksgiving meals will be delivered to your door.
In the past, volunteers have delivered a small percentage of meals for those who can't make it out of their home, but now Jimenez says that'll triple as they hope to deliver 10,000 meals this Thanksgiving.
Jimenez adds they hope to do that with the public's help. The pandemic not only impacted the organization's approach to the dinner, but it also hit some of its sponsors.
"There have been some due to financial deterioration in their businesses that just weren't able to participate in a financial perspective this year and so we're trying to fill that gap," she said. "Right now we're raising money to buy all the turkeys that are needed for this year's event."
It's an event that for years has been fueled by its message of community and it will continue to do that, this time, at a distance.
"We really are blessed and fortunate that we have this opportunity to continue to do good," Jimenez said. "And just continue to feed the city of San Antonio on Thanksgiving day."
Jimenez says once they finalize all the details for this year’s dinner, the information will be posted on their website and social media pages - including when volunteers can register.