What started over a dozen years ago with a few turkeys to help several families on Oahu, has turned into an island-wide project that now reaches thousands.

Saturday morning, a small army of volunteers spent their morning at Ko'Olina loading up tons of turkey, gallons of gravy and all the trimmings for a Thanksgiving feast.

Hundreds had prepared and cooked the food for this project, which has grown since it started 13 years ago.

"We started out with four turkeys for a few families. We wanted to reach more people and the only way to build relationships with the west side was to do something big," said Pele Toomata, with the Aloha Team.

The outreach is now really big, as 4,000 Thanksgiving feasts were made. Volunteer drivers then dropped off them around Oahu, so everyone could get a taste of the holidays.

"The measure, the true measure of any great society is how they treat their less fortunate and all these people coming out here, you can see our society is in good hands," said Ko Olina Resort manager Ken Williams.

All that food ended up at nearly two dozen churches, where less fortunate families and individuals were able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.

Hundreds lined up at the Lighthouse Outreach Center in Waipahu to take part in the day of fellowship. "I'm enjoying it. I'm here with my family meeting different people. It's good," said Kapolei resident Kerry Anduha.

Others were there to take part in the food, which helped ease the burden of providing a hot meal for families, even though it was just for one day. "It was helpful to have a free meal," said Waipahu resident Crystal Kamahalohanuilai.

Through the kindness of strangers, many island kids also got to enjoy one of the best parts of Thanksgiving: dessert.