UTICA – The Utica Rescue Mission served up Thanksgiving meals to those in need yesterday.

Throughout the day the rescue mission served a record number of lunches, dinners and desserts – more than 2,500 of them. The meals were preceded by a church service.

And while nobody wants to see an increase in the number of people who need help in Utica, the rescue mission had no shortage of volunteers to make sure that everyone was fed.

Jayla Springer and Arianna McClure, rescue mission volunteers
"Because I love helping people, because I always wanted to do,” said young volunteer Arianna McClure.

“It felt really good just to see Ariana doing something like this,” said volunteer Jayla Springer.

“A lot of words one could use – I would say the word would be ‘awesome.’ It felt incredible to be giving back to the community," said first-time volunteer John Richardson.

The Utica Rescue Mission also offers warm clothes, emergency shelter and addiction services.