DELAWARE, Ohio - About 800 people were served a free Thanksgiving meal in Delaware on Tuesday thanks to the Hamburger Inn Diner.
Cris Amato was a first-time volunteer at the Hamburger Inn Diner and said she was there to help and give back to the community.
She was one of many volunteers serving Thanksgiving dinner.
This year, she said she had to be there.
She lost her mom recently after she became ill.
Her dad is in hospice care. She said mortality is a strong motivator to change.
"I think everything changes in your life," she said. "The stuff that really matters. Priorities."
Keith Richey will be 80 in February. He's been coming to the restaurant for 61 years.
"Well, this is just another family to me," he said.
After his wife Dorothy passed away last year, four months shy of their 30th wedding anniversary, he said this is where he belongs with family.
Not to mention the food.
"The food is great," he said. "It is very wonderful. They do a great job on home-cooked food."
"It's our way of giving back and thanking the community, our customers," Hamburger Inn Diner Owner, Anita Michailidis said.
Michailidis has been having this Thanksgiving for 35 years. In that time she said the food, which serves up to 800 people and consists of turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and stuffing, has been given away for free to anyone who fills a plate.
She estimates in 35 years she's given up about $70,000.
Michailidis said she does it to give thanks to her customers.
"Without these people I don't have a business," she said.