Karns City Communities That Care volunteer Carrie Young hands a turkey dinner through the cafeteria concession stand window at Karns City Junior-Senior High School on Wednesday for the group's annual community Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving came early for some Karns City and Chicora area residents Wednesday with Karns City Communities That Care's annual community Thanksgiving dinner.

Originally planned to accommodate 300 takeout meals prepared by volunteers and district food service staff, organizers said they served more than 620 people.

“It was definitely overwhelming,” said Kayla Smith, director of Karns City Communities That Care.

Smith said district food service staff members were able to accommodate unexpected demand with additional meals using food that had been ordered for students and was no longer needed because of the switch to remote learning.

Previously held in the school's cafeteria, this year's event — held in conjunction with Karns City Area School District — was done in a takeout format because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the 5 p.m. start, a line of community members stretched around roughly a third of Karns City Junior-Senior High School, with additional people continuing to line up during the distribution time period.Communities That Care assistant director Jeff Hogan credited school district food service director Alex Spalding for his help.“Alex is the reason this happened tonight,” he said.But Smith credited the pandemic for the unexpected turnout, saying she knew of a number of area people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.“We felt we needed this more than ever this year, with everything going on,” she said.Meal recipients waited up to 45 minutes for their dinners, but remained in good spirits and voiced their appreciation.“They do a really great job to help the community,” Karns City senior Sarah Johns said. “It means a lot to me.”Karns City Communities That Care also runs the district's backpack food program, free laundry day, Operation Santa Program and other community outreach programs.“This community really pulls together in times of need,” Smith said.

Karns City School District food service staff member Jill Early loads up a cart with individual servings of turkey for Wednesday night's Karns City Communities That Care Thanksgiving dinner at the junior-senior high school. Because of the pandemic the community event, now in it's sixth year, was changed from dine-in to take-out. Volunteers and staff prepared 300 meals for the community. Area residents lined up roughly a third of the way around the building with some reporting waiting 30 to 45 minutes for the meals.