For many, Thanksgiving is a yearly family tradition of warm, home-cooked dishes and good company. Students head home for a much-needed taste of “real food” and loved ones eagerly await them. Other times, train and plane tickets rack up too high, family problems arise and jobs keep us tied back. For those, there is a place to go this year —  to eat, to make friends and to experience an event as delicious as it is heartwarming.

Lane County’s homeless population is about 3,500, according to Free People Eugene. So for those huddling through the brisk nights, perhaps unable to connect with family members and friends, there is also a place to go this year for Thanksgiving. It’s the Whiteaker’s annual community dinner, a place where they can eat, converse and receive warm blankets, jackets and sleeping bags that are donated throughout the year.

The event works as a gigantic jigsaw puzzle consisting of numerous small parts working together to make a whole. The event is overseen by Beverly Farfan.

“People do it because they care about other people,” Farfan said. “We’re all neighbors in some way.”

Come next Thursday, Farfan will arrive at the Whiteaker Community Head Start Center at 5 a.m.

At 7 a.m., where people will already begin lining up, hot coffee and breakfast rolls will be handed out. At 8 a.m., big blankets and sleeping bags. Shortly after, the “free store” opens, and those waiting will have access to an array of donated toiletries and clothing.

By 11 a.m., the hot food is served, including the regular staples: turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. The quality of the meal is ensured by the numerous local cooks, trained in culinary schools and hospitality programs, who help prepare the food.

“It takes us hours to prepare the meal,” said Lane Community College culinary arts student Korbin Collins. “And it’s really because of the quality, not the quantity.”

Other volunteers will weave through tables with beverages and desserts in hand. To them, and to all working the event, it is important that those joining relax, warm up and enjoy.

“These are people who deserve a good meal, and I like that I can help provide it,” Collins said.

Out of the many highlights of the event, the photo booth will stand as one of the most heartwarming. Attendees will be able to have pictures taken, and with free stamps and envelopes, be able to send those pictures to meaningful loved ones around the country.

If interested in donating to the cause, the Whiteaker dinner is accepting $1 a pound donations toward turkey, of which they plan to serve 1,700 pounds, and $10 and $16 sponsors toward blankets and sleeping bags, respectively. Toiletries and coats are also being accepted.

If interested in experiencing the event for yourself or with friends and family, food will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 21 N. Grand St.

“It’s for anybody that wants to be someplace,” Farfan said.