On this year’s Thanksgiving, Whitney M. Young Jr. Job Corps Center has a few students it should be thankful for.

It all started when a senior member of the cooking staff who was supposed to prepare Thanksgiving dinner had to call out of work. This meant that there was no one to cook and serve the student body a Thanksgiving dinner. Until three students stepped up and made it happen.

Sam Ayala, Roan Head, and Samuel Swann volunteered to use what they could find to create and serve a Thanksgiving meal for their classmates.

“What I can’t stress enough is the leadership and selflessness of these three,” said Kelly Young, Director of Finance and Administration. “They just took control of it. I didn’t have to tell them to do anything. They knew to clean the cafeteria, they knew to wipe down the seats and everything was wiped down…they were taking out trash, and they put together a fantastic meal.”

Though only one of the students, Ayala, was actually in the culinary trade, all three had some experience cooking. Nonetheless, they put together a proper Thanksgiving meal, including turkey, ham, green beans, pies, stuffing and all the other standards.

“What impressed me was their ability to serve. They wanted to pull it off, they wanted to be successful,” Young said. “It was a proud dad moment, and they’re not even my kids.”

But to the students themselves, it was simple: They saw a need, so they filled it.

“I like helping,” Ayala said. “Honestly, it gave me something to do.”