Cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner isn't easy, and this year a record number of senior citizens in Great Falls were looking for help.

KRTV aired a story on Monday about how just $4.00 could provide a Thanksgiving meal for a senior, and that helped spark donations to the Great Falls Meals On Wheels program.

The end results: home-cooked favorites dished out with military precision to a record 375 people in the community, with folks from Malmstrom Air Force Base pitching in to help deliver the goods.

Airmen Anel Mehmedovic was at the beginning of the line and the beginning of his time in Great Falls; he just got stationed at Malmstrom in July.

The regular Meals On Wheels workers got Thanksgiving off, and staff members said that today's success wouldn't have happened without the Malmstrom volunteers.

Program director Nancy Wilson noted, "They are the heart and soul of this project."

Airman Mehmedovic said, "I have been meaning to get involved with the community and what better way to help out than Thanksgiving."

And while a full Thanksgiving meal is a far cry from fast food, today's meals were quickly assembled in to-go boxes and handed off to drivers.

Technical Sergeant Melissa Mantegna said, "This is actually my first year. It's a good cause."

And it's a cause that struck a cord; donations started rolling in after our story aired about the greater need this year, with Meals On Wheels receiving over $1,000 in just one day. Those contributions from the community aren't just making a Thanksgiving meal possible, said Wilson.

She explained, "And without the donations coming in yesterday and in the mail that are still coming, we didn't have much hope that we could do that much for Christmas."

Volunteer Tracie Faulk explained to her child, "Okay, so why do we go out and do this every year?  To give thanks to everybody."

A common sentiment this Thanksgiving day - especially for those who will enjoy a hot meal and the support of a community.