Season of giving arrives -- they hope

Some of the families starting to line up at Metropolitan Ministries are arriving before the sun rises. Many have small children, and all of them are hoping for help putting food on the table for Thanksgiving.

"My mom is the only one working, so it's kind of hard to feed five mouths with one income," Nicole Smith explained.

Nicole is a single mother of two who lost her job a year and a half ago. While going back to school, she moved in with her mother to make ends meet, but says this year she just can't afford a turkey dinner.

"No, never. I was always giving to charities like this. So I never thought I would be waiting in this line like this," she continued.

She's not alone. Metropolitan Ministries is now registering nearly 300 people a day for its Boxes of Hope program. The program gives each needy family a complete turkey dinner to take home.

"We're expecting the holidays are going to be challenging as many families are facing job losses and foreclosures and we're looking to serve a record-breaking number of families," Metro's Ana Mendez offered.

They are expecting to feed more than 29,000 people this year -- many of them like Nicole, who have never needed help before.

"Our donations come from individuals, faith communities, businesses. And whatever you can do to give a little goes a long way," Mendez continued.

Now that the tent is open for registration, there is a constant line outside Metropolitan Ministries. And it's expected to stay that way through the holidays.

"It's really hard right now with me losing my job and everything," Nicole added. "There's just no other option."

Nicole just graduated as a pharmacy technician and will be starting a new job in a few weeks. She knows this Thanksgiving will be a tough one, but is hoping Christmas will be better.

"Just the fact that I am going to be able to sit down and have a Thanksgiving dinner with my children, that's all I could ask for."

If you would like to donate to Metropolitan Ministries' Boxes of Hope Program, click on over to their website: www.metromin.org