NATCHEZ — Volunteers gathered at the Stewpot Thursday to help serve Thanksgiving dinner to those in need.

Stuffing, turkey, rolls, pie and other traditional components of a Thanksgiving dinner were all put into boxes to be handed out or delivered.

Tom Hughes is a longtime volunteer who delivers meals every Thursday, even on Thanksgiving.

He didn’t mind though.

“This is my celebration,” Hughes said.

The dinner served Thursday was the culmination of long hours of work, which began even before the sun rose.

On Wednesday, volunteers carved 32 turkeys in preparation.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done (without them),” head cook Johnnie Davis said. “I was glad everybody stepped up to help me with the turkeys.”

Davis said she didn’t get out until 3 a.m. Wednesday.

But while the day was a carefully organized feast, it was also a bittersweet occasion. It was the first Thanksgiving service without long-time Stewpot director Louis Gunning.

He died in May after a long battle with stomach cancer. Even during his illness, he continued to stay active in the organization, serving those in need.

Gunning was responsible for introducing Hughes to the organization. Hughes said Gunning was a good friend and did “a wonderful job keeping the Stewpot going.”

“The crew here has done an outstanding job taking up the slack,” Hughes said.

Hughes said Amanda Jeansonne, the current Stewpot Director, has also done an outstanding job.

But Hughes said he still misses Gunning. Davis said she does, too.

“I’m used to him coming in, saying something, greeting everybody and saying ‘Happy Thanksgiving,’” Davis said.

Davis said she believed he was watching them as they did their work, with volunteers preparing meals for approximately 500 people.

Four of the volunteers were members of the Dufrene family, Bill, Adele and their two daughters, Whitney, 26, and Delaney, 17. The Baton Rouge residents came up to visit Natchez for Thanksgiving.

“We were here and this was our way of giving back to the community,” Bill said.

The family recently lost Adele’s parents, who died within less than two years of each other. Her parents, Adele said, gave her many things, and she felt she needed to give back.

“So we came here with our family and Natchez is beautiful,” Adele said. “But we also wanted to do something that was not just for ourselves.”

Whitney said she’s done things such as volunteering at the Stewpot in the past, but by herself. Whitney said she enjoyed volunteering with her family.

Although Whitney said she misses her grandparents, she said they’re no longer suffering.

“We cling together, we stay strong,” Whitney said. “A trying time, but a good time.”

There was plenty for the family to do as people began to come in, including Frederick Allen. Allen said he comes in every so often, and that the Stewpot helps a lot of people.

“I don’t know what people would do without the Stewpot,” Allen said. “It’s a God save and God sent.”