Thanksgiving turned into a day of volunteering for hundreds of people at Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa.

Metropolitan Ministries served 7,000 meals to those in need at locations across Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

At the nonprofit's main kitchen in Tampa, Executive Chef Luis Soto says the day's cooking included some heavy lifting.

"Twenty-five hundred pounds of turkey, 3,000 gallons of mashed potatoes, 90 gallons of gravy, and we are going to have 800 pies," Luis said early this morning as meal preps were underway.

For Andrena Black, the Thanksgiving meal is just the start of how thankful she is for the help of Metropolitan Ministries.

"When I got here I didn't know why I was here," said Black, who moved to Tampa in May. "I didn't feel nothing. I was just here. But I knew I had a journey."

Since then, Black has been a resident at the Metropolitan Ministries shelter in Tampa. She earned her GED in October and in two weeks she'll start a nursing assistant program.

By this time next year, Black says she hopes to be working toward a nursing degree.

"I see myself getting ready to be a registered nurse, going to school," Black said.

Metropolitan Ministries served Thanksgiving meals at 17 locations in the Bay Area. Next week, the organization will start its big push for volunteers during the Christmas holiday.