Equinox provides Thanksgiving dinners to those in need around the Capital Region. Kim Lengle was there this holiday as volunteers made the 40th year possible.

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Equinox volunteers have spent the past couple of days getting everything ready for the big day. Some 8,500 turkey dinners with all the fixings went out to folks all across the Capital Region.

Volunteers we spoke with say this is one holiday tradition they wouldn't miss.

"I've been doing it for years. Love doing something like this and helping people who are needy. It really gives you a lot of satisfaction," said volunteer Sandra Balashek.

There weren't any Thanksgiving greeting to legislators from the governor as he reiterated his words from earlier this week, demanding that they finalize a budget deficit plan in Monday's special session or give him the power to do it himself. But whether the budget deficit gets dealt with this coming week or not, Paterson wished that there were fewer people relying on Equinox for their Thanksgiving meal.

"My thanksgiving wish, with 9,000 wonderful volunteers out here, is that we didn't have to have as many volunteers and more people had food and more people have shelter and more people had jobs in this difficult time and places to live and opportunities that we've lost during the recession. And we're going to make some difficult choices in the next few weeks. But those choices are designed to get us out of that recession and out of this mess as soon as possible," Paterson said.

This was the 40th year of the Equinox Thanksgiving dinner.