1,000+ Thanksgiving meals given out by South Oak Cliff alumni, SMU football players, Dallas Police

Photo courtesy of DPD.

Over 1,000 families received Thanksgiving meals yesterday thanks to the combined efforts of South Oak Cliff High School alumni, Southern Methodist University football players and the Dallas Police Department.

The now-annual event started with a distribution of 300 meals and has ballooned to the current total. Families who participate receive a turkey and a bag filled with stuffing and other Thanksgiving meal supplies.

SMU Running Back coach Khenon Hall is a South Oak Cliff graduate and was able to bring his team to help out efforts yesterday.

“One thing I wanted to do was come back and give back and help my community,” Hall told NBCDFW. “It’s very important for us to show these young men the importance of maturity and giving back and just showing thanks.”

A video posted to social media by SMU Football showed the line of cars picking up meals stretched for a mile.

“It was an incredible turnout today here at South Oak Cliff High School, our entire program is here,” Scott Nady, senior assistant for player development at SMU, said in the video. “We have a lot of community support… this could not be better.”

The 1,000 turkeys made up a sizable portion of Dallas Police’s total 4,200 turkeys given out for the holiday.

“Our community came through this Thanksgiving!” DPD published in a tweet. “We are grateful to our partners, and for the opportunity to help our city this season.”