The aroma of  18 turkeys roasting had barely had a chance to waft out of the Hungry Heart Soup Kitchen Wednesday morning when the line began to form outside.
When the doors opened at noon, the eager Thanksgiving dinner guests snaked their way through the hall and into the kitchen where Great Bend High School National Honor Society members scooped the traditional fixings onto their plates. They packed the hall,which was filled with the sounds of people enjoying each other’s company.
“It’s about fellowship,”said Pete Cabrerra who works with the Great Bend soup kitchen, adding they served between 100-150 diners. “It’s like coming to eat with your family and friends.”
The meal was free. “It’s for anyone who wants to come and eat,” he said.
The menu consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, pie and “all the things would have in your home,” Cabrerra said. The food comes from donations and what they can purchase.
Cooks started preparing the turkeys weeks ago. Then, they came in at 7 a.m. Wednesday to begin the rest of the holiday fare.
Even with all those birds, it is unlikely there will be any of the traditional Thanksgiving leftovers. “They’ll be all gone,” Cabrerra said.
This marked the 17th year for the dinner held at the 1515 Williams location. Hungry Heart is a service of Lasting Life Ministries.
“We have a relationship with the people who come and eat,”Cabrerra said. 
The soup kitchen has its regulars, those who also come and partake of the free meals during the week. Many of them have nowhere to go and no one to go see on Thanksgiving, so this meal fills that void.
“It’s really kind of sad,” Cabrerra said. Although the dinner is open to all comers, many who attend are elderly with a fixed income, handicapped or disabled. Some can’t travel or have been abandoned by their relatives.
“If we weren’t here, they wouldn’t have anyone,” he said. “This allows them to come here, hang out and enjoy a meal.”
There are parents trying to feed their kids. There are the unemployed. There are those who are just down on their luck. “A lot of them can’t afford it, they rally can’t.”
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, this year’s Thanksgiving meal for ten increased in cost by $5.73 to a total of $49.20 – mostly due to rising food prices.
For Cabrerra and his fellow Hungry Heart companions, Debbie Tucker and Mike Beaver, it is a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking scenario. “But, we’re here for them,” Cabrerra said.
“People don’t want to see there is a need,” Cabrerra said. “Somebody has to pick up the slack.”