While many people will enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner in their own homes today, many others are not quite as fortunate.

The Edmundite Missions’ Bosco Nutrition Center, Camp Perry Varner and the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center are making sure that the people they serve will enjoy a hot meal.

“We open up here, and we serve a hot turkey dinner to anybody that wants to come in,” said Brad Perry, nutrition director for the Bosco Nutrition Center.

“Myself and the staff are more than happy to do that for them knowing they don’t have anywhere to go, and they can come here and sit down and eat.”

Perry said between Meals on Wheels and the nutrition center, the Edmundite Missions will serve an estimated 500 Thanksgiving meals to people in need in Selma.

“There are a lot of people that just don’t have anything. They’re extremely poor,” Perry said.

“Most of the people that come in are by themselves, and either they don’t have any family or they’re a large family and they just don’t have the means to buy the food or they don’t have the means to cook it because they don’t have money for gas.”

While the center is helping serve hot meals, it also gives people a chance to meet others and enjoy their company.

“It’s not only a meal. Sometimes they come in and socialize, and they’re able to talk with people. So that is a big aspect of it also,” Perry said.

“We go out in the dining room, and we talk with them a little bit, so we get a lot out of it ourselves because it is good work that we’re doing.”

On a normal day, the center serves around 1,000 meals, and Perry said the work they do is made possible through private donations and businesses that are willing to give back and help them feed people in need.

Perry said the kitchen will be open from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. for Thanksgiving.

The 36 juveniles that are in Camp Perry Varner and housed in the juvenile detention center will also get a hot meal.

Marcus Hannah, director of the camp and center, said more than $550 worth of food was donated by Dave’s Market and Washington Street Supermarket.

“Normally every year a lot of the churches donate to us and bring food out for Thanksgiving, but this year we decided to go out to some of the local markets and the staff wanted to cook for them,” Hannah said.

Hannah said it means a lot to the center to have people that are willing to provide food for Thanksgiving.

“It just shows how they do care about our kids,” Hannah said.

Hannah said the staff is grilling ribs, wings, sausage and sides to go with it.

“Our staff came up with the idea, and they wanted to do it,” Hannah said. “The kids are very, very ecstatic, and they are just looking forward to it.”

Hannah said the meal wouldn’t be possible without Dave’s Market, Washington Street Super Market, the staff at the center and Dallas County Commission.