BATON ROUGE - Holiday Helpers has been dishing out Thanksgiving meals for the community since 1987. Today, that duty was passed on to St. Vincent de Paul.

"We found a good fit," Holiday Helpers president Reggie Brown said. "We'll be right there with him, to help him in every way that we can."

Over the past three decades, thousands of Baton Rouge residents have received a hot meal from Holiday Helpers volunteers. After the first dinner, Brown thought it was all over.

"I said one and done, we're through, we're done," Brown said.  

Michael Acaldo, St. Vincent de Paul's president, plans to keep Brown's tradition intact going forward.

"I learned a long time ago...if something isn't broken you don't fix it," Acaldo said.

According to Brown, one reason for this transition is the age of many of the volunteers. 

Even though he is passing the torch to Acaldo and St. Vincent de Paul, Brown will still be a part of the annual event.

"Giving is something that doesn't come easy a lot of times," Brown said. "Once you start, it doesn't come easy to quit giving."