SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Thursday is Thanksgiving and Open Pantry Community Services provided residents with a warm meal. 22News got a chance to see how services like this help families throughout the Springfield Region. Millions of Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving with their loved ones, enjoying their holiday feast, spending quality time with family, and giving thanks. But while many people are able to enjoy this holiday some residents are unable to provide sufficient meals for themselves and their families. To make sure that no one goes without a meal this year, Open Pantry Community Services welcomed the community to the High School of Commerce in Springfield to enjoy a warm meal. "It's a wonderful event we also delivered 560 meals to homebound and elderly people in the community so we have about 150 here and also delivered the 560 meals," says Nicole Lussier with Open Pantry. Since 1975, Open Pantry has provided social services to families and residents who are hungry, homeless, or disadvantaged. These services becoming more essential across western Massachusetts as more than 98 thousand people are facing food insecurity. The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts reports that residents in Hampden County are struggling the most with food insecurity as more than 61,000 people do not know when their next meal will be. The reasons behind food insecurity vary. It is often caused by poverty, unemployment, and low wages. Miss US Woman of Achievement Cristianna Borelli, told 22News, "Having something like this for our community not only where they are being fed but they are having a positive environment listening to the music and you look at all the different people here who just want to give back and they have nothing more to gain from it but to see other people smile. Hopefully, that empowers people to want to get up next and try again." This is an annual Thanksgiving event and organizers say they look forward to helping more people in the community for many more years. Local News Headlines Thanksgiving Rivalries: Western Mass football games bring communities together Knights of Columbus in Chicopee provides Thanksgiving meals to western Massachusetts communities Open Pantry hosts Thanksgiving meals for Springfield community Endicott College mourns loss of Sgt. Jeremy Cole in Thanksgiving crash WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.