Photos: Thanksgiving Day at the South Side Mission

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Bright Horizons assistant director Jessica Burgess of Washington hands a meal over to a Sterling Tower resident as she, teacher Colleen Bond, at right, and four other teachers delivered Thanksgiving dinners from the South Side Mission to Tower residents on Nov. 22, 2018 in Peoria.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR A group of Bright Horizons teachers from Little Friends Early Education and Preschool cram into an elevator to deliver food from the South Side Misson on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, 2018 to residents of Sterling Towers apartment complex. The six volunteers delivered 22 meals to various apartments throughout the complex, part of the massive annual effort by the South Side Mission to provide a Thanksgiving dinner for those in need throughout the Peoria area. About 80 volunteers and 200 drivers came together to prepare and deliver 3,400 meals.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Jessica Burgess, bottom right, of Washington, the assistant director of the Bright Horizons program at Little Friends Early Education and Preschool, gets the delivery addresses for her five other volunteers as they prepare to deliver Thanksgiving meals to residents of Sterling Towers on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 in Peoria. The teachers joined about 80 other volunteers and 200 drivers to deliver 3,400 meals throughout the Peoria area.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Hundreds of containers of cranberry sauce wait to be packed up as part of Thanksgiving meals on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 at the South Side Mission.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Gabrielle Howard, right, of Williamsfield props a box of Thanksgiving meals between her head and the ceiling of the elevator as she and fellow Bright Horizons teacher Elise Oberle help deliver Thanksgiving meals from the South Side Mission to residents of Sterling Towers on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 in Peoria.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Volunteers help prepare Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 at the South Side Mission in Peoria. About 80 volunteers and 200 drivers helped deliver 3,400 meals to those in need throughout Peoria.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Five teachers and the assistant director of the Bright Horizons program at the Little Friends Early Education and Preschool carry boxes of Thanksgiving meals through the hallways of the Sterling Tower apartment complex on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 in Peoria. The group delivered 22 meals prepared at the South Side Mission to residents in the complex.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Elise Oberle, right, of Pekin and Ashley Streitmatter of Peoria Heights load a box of ten meals into the Bright Horizons school bus for delivery on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, 2018 from the South Side Mission. Five teachers and the assistant director of the program at Little Friends Early Education and Preschool joined about 80 volunteers and 200 drivers to deliver about 3,400 meals throughout the Peoria area.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Colleen Bond of Chillicothe, middle, and fellow Bright Horizons teacher Gabrielle Howard, right, of Williamsfield help deliver meals to residents of Sterling Towers on Nov. 22, 2018 as part of the South Side Mission's annual Thanksgiving Day program.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR The "pie cutters," Russell Ivie, left Sean Allen, middle, and his wife Lori Allen process pumpkin pies to pack into Thanksgiving meals on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 at the South Side Mission. The "cutters" are part of four generations of one family that have been cutting pies for the South Side Mission effort for the past decade.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Volunteers serve turkey with all the trimmings and much more during the annual Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 at the South Side Mission.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Nick Allen of East Peoria pets his dog Skillet, a Chihuahua terrier, during the South Side Mission's annual Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 in Peoria.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR Douglas Nelson of Peoria chats with a friend during the annual Thanksgiving meals on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 at the South Side Mission in Peoria.

MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR A volunteer pours a ladle of gravy over some mashed potatoes and turkey during the annual Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018 at the South Side Mission.