Thousands of people came together for a hot turkey lunch on Thursday.

VIA and the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner are partnering together to provide free rides to event attendees.

Hundreds of volunteers started preparing meals Sunday morning that will feed 25,000 people on Thanksgiving.

An official with the dinner tells KSAT that as of Tuesday afternoon, the requests for Thanksgiving home meals have maxed out.

It’s officially November and United Way San Antonio is looking to help get people Thanksgiving meals who can’t go get their own.

The San Antonio tradition has a rich history of helping anyone and everyone find something to eat on Thanksgiving. As the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner celebrates 45 years, here's how you can sign up to help.

Tens of thousands of people sat down to Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, courtesy of one charitable organization.

A decades-long San Antonio Thanksgiving tradition returned Thursday to an in-person event for the first time since 2019.

For the first time in two years, the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner will be in person at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday. Volunteers prepared for the event on Sunday in an effort to have everything ready for the big day.

This year marks the 43rd anniversary of the event which will take place on Nov. 24 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on E. Market St.

This year marks the 43rd anniversary of the event which will take place on Nov. 24 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on E. Market St.

The Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner took place on Thursday to make sure those in need enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and here in San Antonio, the annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner aims to help so many families across our community.

SAN ANTONIO – Not even a pandemic could stop the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner this year, but it did need to pivot from a crowded ballroom filled with food and festivities at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center to doorstep deliveries. A spokeswoman said Corazon Ministries and SAMM Ministries also picked up meals to distribute to the city’s homeless population. “You’d be amazed by what happens when people come together for the right reasons,” said Raul Jimenez III, the founder’s grandson. The event started in 1979 by his grandfather, a restaurant owner and businessman, to provide seniors and anyone else in need the Thanksgiving dinners they wouldn’t otherwise have. The long-standing tradition involves serving up 25,000 meals at the Convention Center.

SAN ANTONIO – For four decades, the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner has fed needy residents on Thanksgiving Day. “I think that 2021 will be a little bit better for everybody,” said Raul Jimenez III, the grandson of the dinner’s founder. The church normally distributes frozen turkeys for Thanksgiving, Lara said, but distributing meals for the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner took the place of that effort this year. Some of the church members have been involved in the dinner for the past few years, he said. Jimenez, who actually estimated a lower number of meals that would be delivered this year, sees the bright side.

SAN ANTONIO – The Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner, which is usually held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, will be delivering meals to those in need instead of hosting the event in person this year due to COVID-19. And, as of Thursday, planners of the event said it had reached its full capacity for meal requests and has closed registration. Anyone that is still in need of a Thanksgiving meal is urged to contact the San Antonio Food Bank or Meals on Wheels San Antonio for further assistance. Planners of the annual dinner said its goal is to feed up to 10,000 seniors and homeless through its delivery system this year. RELATED: Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner will not be in person this year

SAN ANTONIO – Every year, approximately 25,000 people fill the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center to celebrate Thanksgiving at the Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. “This year, our goal is to feed up to 10,000 seniors and homeless through a homebound delivery system,” said Jessica Jimenez, Raul Jimenez’s granddaughter. “One of the things that some people might not know about the Thanksgiving dinner is that we’ve actually had a homebound delivery system in our organization for more than 10 years. So, we last year fed close to 3,000 seniors in underprivileged families through homebound delivery where the meals were picked up and then delivered to their home. Related Stories:Julián Castro and family serve at 40th Annual Raul Jiménez Thanksgiving DinnerRaul Jimenez’s daughter leads organizing efforts of San Antonio Thanksgiving tradition

Senator John Cornyn was in San Antonio on Monday, working with volunteers to prepare turkey dinners for the 40th annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner. As the senator volunteered in the kitchen, he also talked with a KSAT crew about the issues facing Congress as they try to work through the impeachment hearings. “I don’t really see why we should be dividing the nation this way, less than a year before the election," Cornyn said. "That’s not the way we ought to choose our leaders, not through the impeachment process." “Trade with Mexico and Canada supports 14 million jobs, so this is an important piece of work,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn: Impeachment hearings 'dividing the nation'Published: November 25, 2019, 6:55 pmSen. John Cornyn said the impeachment hearings are getting in the way of other issues Congress should be focusing on right now.