The West Seattle Eagles started working at 10 a.m. today – preparing a Thanksgiving feast for the whole community.

Everyone’s invited to enjoy the meal, Eagles member Christine Juarez said. She especially hopes to welcome seniors, individuals with disabilities and busy families to the event.

“We think this may be the biggest Thanksgiving we’ve had in years,” Juarez said.

The free meal will be served from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 23. The event is open to the public.

The West Seattle Eagles club is located at 4426 California Ave SW.

Roast turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and dessert will be on the menu.

To prepare for the crowd, volunteers chopped piles of yams, peeled mountains of potatoes, mixed tubs of dressing and fired up an oven-full of turkey.

They were all happy to lend a hand for the cause.

“It’s a joy to be able to help others,” Beverly Clary, who has been an Eagle since 1976, said. “The Eagles are all about people helping people. It’s a nice organization. We support a lot of charities.”

Zale Cordero just joined the group in May – and was busy preparing ingredients for the stuffing.

“The whole reason I joined the Eagles was to give back,” she said. “I’m a firm believer. I thought this would be a busy event – so here I am.”

Nate Keim, vice president of the West Seattle Eagles, said about 200 guests attended last year.

“Everybody has a good time,” he said. “This is all about community – and not everybody has a place to go for the holidays.”

He said the annual turkey dinner has been a tradition for the Eagles for at least 10 years. He hopes more people come out this year for the event.

For more information about the West Seattle Eagles, visit www.westseattleeagles.org.