INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Thursday is not just Thanksgiving Day — it’s also a big day for the Mozel Sanders Foundation.

The Mozel Sanders Foundation is a nonprofit organization that has served meals to Indianapolis families for over five decades. Every year, thousands of volunteers come together to serve hot, delicious Thanksgiving dinners.

In 2022, the foundation served hot meals to more than 10,000 hungry Hoosiers. This year, the goal is to serve 15,000 meals.

Stephen Sanders, CEO of the Mozel Sanders Foundation, told News 8’s Camila Fernandez that he is ready for the Thanksgiving feast.

“This is big. I’m excited for it to come and I’m excited to celebrate, to have another successful year,” Sanders said.

The organization is partnering with Butler University for the 19th time to get the hot meals prepared, packaged, and delivered.

On Wednesday, volunteers started preparing thousands of pulled chicken dinners with gravy, stuffing, green beans, dinner rolls, and chocolate chip cookies.

“We wouldn’t be able to do this without volunteers — at least a thousand — at different satellite locations, helping us, and donations. All of this is a city-wide effort. We couldn’t do it without the city of Indianapolis,” said Sanders.

Sanders said Thursday that he expects things to go more smoothly this year than in years past.

“We have a great team and logistics. This is going to be one of our best years. As far as our production is concerned, we have more serving lines and we’re looking to get that food out a lot faster.”

WISH-TV is proud to partner with Financial Center First Credit Union to support this special Thanksgiving Day tradition.

Click here to learn more about the Mozel Sanders Foundation.

Thanksgiving dinner by the numbers

The Mozel Sanders Foundation expects 2,000 volunteers to prepare, package, and deliver meals to about 11,000 people. The foundation will work out of eight kitchens with 20 satellite locations.

Here’s how much food the organization plans to serve on Thanksgiving Day:

• Pulled chicken: 5,000 pounds
• Dressing: 2,500 pounds
• Green beans: 420 cans
• Gravy: 156 gallons
• Dinner rolls: 20,000
• Cookies: 20,000