Thanksgiving Day meals served up by volunteer crew at Mercy Soup Kitchen in Wyandanch

Thursday was Steve Cofone’s first Thanksgiving Day volunteering at Mercy Soup Kitchen in Wyandanch helping to serve about 175 people a hot lunch of turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes.

Cofone, a cancer survivor who had a heart attack in August, and other soup kitchen volunteers handed folks peanut butter sandwiches, milk and bagels before they walked out the door.

"I lived to tell about it," said Cofone, of Copiague, becoming emotional as he spoke. "God gave me a second chance. I want to pay it forward."

Cofone was among more than a dozen volunteers working on Thursday. They include a school crossing guard, a car dealership salesman, an insurance claims manager and retirees from all walks of life.

The soup kitchen is open year-round Mondays through Fridays and is staffed by more than 100 volunteers who take various weekly shifts. But for the holiday, the volunteer spots were so coveted that Vito Colletti, president of Mercy, said he had to turn down volunteer requests.

With classic rock humming from a radio, the volunteers poured steaming Italian wedding soup and scooped stuffing into trays inside a small basement kitchen filled with the aroma of turkey in gravy.

"It’s like a little family, you know?" said Tony Privitera, of Medford, who has spent many Thanksgiving mornings with fellow volunteers. "It becomes part of you."

Farid Charkhian, of Commack, was at the end of a three-men line slicing hot Turkey legs. Charkhian, an immigrant from Iran, said he felt fortunate to have built "a decent life" in the United States and wanted to give back.

"I have had opportunities here that I wasn't able to have in my home country," Charkhian said. "Because I'm an immigrant, it’s always in the back of my mind that I have to give back to the community that has allowed me to flourish."

As the time approached 11:30 a.m., Michael Quarlena, a former restaurant chef who runs the soup kitchen, quieted everyone for "show time." The door opened and a line of people slowly trickled in. Some took the meals to go while others sat down at the long tables decorated with plastic flowers in colorful bottles.

Among them were an immigrant couple from Guatemala. The husband, a construction worker who did not want his name published, said he heard about the soup kitchen from his church.

"It has been slow," he said of his work. "The economy is not good. People don’t want to spend."

The Rev. Terrance Daye, pastor of Christian Life Center Church in Amityville who organizes an annual food drive on Thanksgiving, has noticed the longer lines at his church’s food pantry.

"Because of the [federal government] shutdown and the high cost of groceries, the need was higher," Daye said.

On Thursday, Daye and about 100 volunteers prepared and delivered about 1,300 meals to families, many of whom are seniors, he said. Volunteers put the meals together at the East Farmingdale fire department this year.

Daye hoped the meals would help alleviate the uncertainty many felt. At least for Thursday, they "can have a meal today and not think about how much it costs," he said.