BOISE, Idaho — When the holidays come around, Idaho shows just how special it is.
On Wednesday, the Boise Rescue Mission hosted their annual Thanksgiving Banquet at the Cathedral of the Rockies in downtown Boise.
The tradition provides a hot and delicious meal, and some good company, to hundreds of people who need a little help during the holidays.
"This event is so important to the people coming for a meal and the people coming for a food box, because otherwise, they may not have either one this year," Boise Rescue Mission President and CEO, Rev. Bill Roscoe said.
The sponsor of this year's Boise banquet, Albertsons, finished the special event off with a special gesture; presenting the Boise Rescue Mission with a check for $10,000.
Some of the KTVB family was in attendance Wednesday, including Mark Johnson, Brian Holmes and Maggie O'Mara, along with Boise's interim police chief Ron Winegar.
"You know, the number of volunteers almost outnumbers the guests on some occasions and today we're blessed to have a great, great group of community people," Roscoe said. "From the police chief, to people that work at the school, I've met a lot of people today – every spectrum of our community – and they're here serving."
The Thanksgiving Banquet provided quite the performance from some other familiar faces, too.
Early each morning this week, the Boise State football team has been practicing at the crack of dawn to get ready for Friday's regular-season finale against Utah State at 10 a.m. MT.
Prior to kickoff at Albertsons Stadium, the ultimate tough guys showed off how big their hearts are. Dozens of Broncos made their way over to the Cathedral of the Rockies Wednesday to help feed those in need of a little assistance.
Tight end Riley Smith, quarterback Taylen Green, running back Ashton Jeanty and more sang, danced and signed autographs at the holiday event.
Right before hoping on the bus to head back to the Boise State University campus, Smith told KTVB's Jay Tust these are can't-miss moments for him.
"It's nice we get school off so we got some more time to be able to go out in the community and especially during the holidays right now, it's great to be able to give back to the community that supports us so much," Smith said. "I try to take as many opportunities as I can to come out and do this stuff. It's definitely fun. It's always fun to come out here and spend time in the community, and we love it … It's able to take our mind off football and be able to just have fun and hang out with people in the community."
By the way, the Boise Recue Mission is just one of the beneficiaries for the annual 7Cares Idaho Shares day of giving coming up on Saturday, Dec. 10.
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