Today, Thanksgiving, hundreds of service members and military families will enjoy a holiday meal thanks to the generosity of others.

Volunteers at the Naval Submarine Base prepared more than 200 Thanksgiving meals in a box, complete with a turkey, on Tuesday for the annual Caring and Sharing program for service members and their families in need. Service members from the Army, Coast Guard and Navy received the boxes.

Food and monetary donations were collected in a drive on the base earlier this month. Leftover items are donated to local food pantries.

"We know everybody struggles with economic downtimes," said Legalman First Class Ru Li, the program coordinator. "This is what we can do to help."

More than 100 sailors will spend Thanksgiving with local families who volunteered their homes and hospitality through the Adopt-A-Sailor program so sailors do not feel alone over the holidays. Hundreds more will eat at the clubhouse for the U.S. Submarine Veterans Groton Base.

The Glass family of Mystic has invited sailors to Thanksgiving for the past 10 years. Barbara Glass said they have spent so many years with the sailors, "it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them."

- Jennifer McDermott