Eighty turkeys, mounds of mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing. 

For free.

That’s what Z-Georges owner Michael Zeidan will be giving to the community the day before Thanksgiving for the 20th consecutive year.

He has been giving away free dinners during Thanksgiving at various location around Southeast Michigan since 1990. This year’s dinner will be from 3-6 p.m. Nov. 24 at the Ypsilanti location, 2071 Golfside Drive.

Michael Zeidan greets customers during the Thanksgiving dinner in 2008.

File photo

“I just like to give back to the community,” he said. “We look to them for support, they give us business and we give back to them. We’re here to help people in hard times, and this is one way we can help.”

The meal consists of all the traditional Thanksgiving favorites — mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and heaping helpings of turkey. Zeidan estimated last year’s dinner drew about 1,100 people, and he expects this year’s crowd to be about the same.

He said interest has been high in the dinner this year, something he attributed to the struggling economy locally. While he accepts donations of turkeys and other food, Zeidan typically does the dinner at the restaurant’s expense as a gesture of goodwill during the holidays.

“The way the economy is going, it’s scaring me,” he said. “Everyone’s having a hard time and we are too, but it’s a thing for me that we’re going to be still doing it. We’re going to put it together with everybody’s help.”

For information on the dinner, call Z-Georges at (734) 572-1433.