One needn’t spend Thanksgiving Day volunteering at a soup kitchen to understand how the mathematics of altruism yields a sum far greater than its parts.

But if you ever have, you certainly do.

“It’s just a little tiny thing you can contribute to this big issue we have — and there is so much need out there,” said Colorado Springs resident Esther Bobb. “I don’t have to just be at home and feel bad about what’s going on, I can feel like I’m contributing.”

First-time volunteers Esther and her husband, Carl, were among more than 50 community volunteers who gathered Thursday morning to help prepare, plate and serve hundreds of meals at Catholic Charities of Central Colorado’s Marian House soup kitchen on Bijou Street, one of a number of such free holiday feasts held Thursday for those in need.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are traditionally times when seasonal spikes in goodwill translate to a surge in volunteerism, said Marian House Director Jim Benavidez. 

It may be a holiday that gets them to turn out, but the tides that drew them there are often deeper and more complex, he said.

“They’re here for many, many different reasons, whether they’ve got somebody in their own family that could be in the situation of some of our clients, or whether they’re here just because they want to give back,” Benavidez said. “There are so many reasons, and we are just grateful, always, to have our volunteers.”

Early Thursday morning, Benavidez said he’d spoken with a first-time volunteer who — like so many — said he’d been intending to give back for years before finally negotiating a follow through.

“He said, ‘My kids are all grown up, what do I do? I’m going to volunteer, I’m not going to eat Thanksgiving dinner by myself,’” Benavidez said. 

In other words, giving back goes both ways.

Volunteer Alex Antzaras was at Marian House Thursday morning fulfilling a promise he made to the greater good, himself and his daughter almost a decade ago while living in Minnesota. He said he set out to find a way to continue the tradition in his new hometown of Colorado Springs, and found his way to Catholic Charities’ soup kitchen and its welcoming, and growing, community. 

Antzaras said he was inspired by a desire to introduce his daughter to volunteerism, so she could “see what it means and how it can help people out,” he said. 

“The question shouldn’t be, ‘Why are you volunteering?’ It should be, ‘Why are you not volunteering?’” he said.

Understanding a changing world begins with understanding one’s role in it, and the perspective — and power — that brings, he said.

“Life is getting harder. Things are getting more difficult financially for folks, so there are more people who need a helping hand,” Antzaras said. “It’s good to be able to share, and to be able to help however you can.”

Whatever the calendar date, the “how” is as important as the “what,” said Marian House client Keith Mullen, who was among the first wave of diners to arrive Thanksgiving for a five-course, plated, chef-prepared meal of turkey, sides and all the fixins.

It’s about the food, sure, he said. But not only.

“I’ve been coming here for 30 years, and I can tell you this is a good place. They look at you, they see you and make you feel seen, like you’re a person,” he said. “That is so important.”

Marian House serves donation sourced and volunteer-chef-prepared free community meals 365 days a year.

Some days, though, are more special than others.

Marian House is “a tradition … and we all pretty much know each other,” said client Ryan White on Thursday. “A lot of us don’t have anybody, so this this is our community.

“This is our family Thanksgiving.”