While many will soon sit down and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with their families, some local police officers and firefighters are working.

Channah Appel wanted to thank them for their service and make sure they could celebrate the holiday, too.

She rounded up families from Aish HaTorah, an international organization based in Jerusalem and an adult and family Jewish Education program, and asked them to help prepare traditional Thanksgiving dishes and deliver them to the Cleveland Heights Police Department and the Beachwood and University Heights fire departments.

“We thought it would be a great way to build our community of volunteers of parents and kids. There are so few opportunities for families to spend time together volunteering,” Appel said, adding that at least 30 families pitched in.

The women's auxiliary, known as Aishet Chayil, spent Tuesday and Wednesday cooking with Chef Dave Frank at the Young Israel of Greater Cleveland in Beachwood, while the little ones decorated place mats and giant banners, she said. Families will deliver the food today.

This is the first year Appel has organized the event, “Put the ‘Thanks’ back into Thanksgiving” and said she was inspired by a similar event her brother in Harrisburg, PA, has been running for years.

Heinen's, Trader Joe's, Giant Eagle and Unger's Kosher Market donated the two turkeys and the ingredients for the rest of the dishes, and Blum's Paper Goods donated the paper supplies.

The organization, which has a branch in South Euclid, will deliver food to 16 Cleveland Heights officers, eight Beachwood firefighters and seven University Heights firefighters today.

“We want them to feel appreciated and loved,” Appel said.