While most students will be stuffing their faces with turkey this Thanksgiving, others will be spending their holiday volunteering at the Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen, LINK.

“LINK exists for the purpose of providing meals for anyone who is hungry, homeless or is in need of companionship,” National Honor Society (NHS) sponsor Deb Engstrom said. “LINK takes these people in with no questions asked and no need of income.”

LINK welcomes anyone who would like to help out, and they do not require any volunteer to be with an organization.

“At LINK you just stand in an assembly line and pass out whatever dish you’re serving to those who want it,” senior NHS treasurer Jack Bush said. “It wasn’t bad at all.”

Around the holidays it can be an especially hard time for those who are not as fortunate with all the talk of presents, food, traditions and family, which many of them do not have.

“It’s important to volunteer around the holidays because there are a lot of less fortunate people who get especially sad around these times,” senior NHS president Ida Greenwell said. “However, it is also those days other than the holidays that are just as important for people to volunteer on because there are still hungry people.”

There are several organizations such as the Lawrence Community Shelter, Salvation Army and LINK that are here to help those who are not capable of meeting their own basic needs.

“It’s hard to find organizations that you can volunteer for but once you reach out to them they are really responsive,” Greenwell said. “Take any opportunity you get to volunteer. It’s well worth it.”

Earlier this fall, all of the NHS students got together and helped with a dinner at LINK. This was many of the students’ first experience with LINK but they agreed it was enjoyable.

“The dinner was really cool because it was a lot more personal than the lunches at LINK,” senior NHS historian Kirsten Vogel said. “There weren’t that many people there so after we got done serving we got to get up and go talk to all of the people there.”

The National Honors Society program at LHS offers several opportunities for students to get involved with volunteer work in Lawrence. A NHS student is expected to earn a minimum of 30 volunteer hours a year.

Volunteer work can include many things from working at LINK to helping out a neighbor.

“I have volunteered at HyVee doing inventory, and also I’ve helped out my neighbor who is a pharmacist,” Bush said.

Volunteering is offering a service to anyone without pay. Anyone can volunteer; it does not take being in the NHS program to lend a helping hand.