Volunteers prepare turkey and trimmings for annual Veltri Dinner - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

Volunteers prepare turkey and trimmings for annual Veltri Dinner

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A holiday tradition is continuing in Charleston this Thanksgiving. Volunteers spent Wednesday getting everything ready for the annual Veltri Dinner.

It's the 46th year for the holiday feast. It was started by the late Frank Veltri. He cooked up a single turkey and trimmings back in 1966.

In 2011, volunteers delivered more than 1,400 meals to homebound residents in the Charleston area. They also fed about 250 people in the dining hall.

It's all in an effort to give some of the city's economically disadvantaged a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

Veltri left an endowment to make sure that the feast would go on and his family volunteers each year. "I just provided them with a meal that they might have otherwise been without," said Tori Romeo, Veltri's granddaughter. According to his grandson, Matteo Romeo, "There's a lot of work today, but you know that all of the work you put into it paid off."

The family expects to serve more than 1,500 dinners this year.