The Union Gospel Mission has cooked about 4,000 pounds, or about 1,800 kilograms, of turkey for the homeless. (iStock)

Vancouver's Union Gospel Mission is gearing up to serve a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner to the homeless on Monday.

Kitchen Manager Randy Spark says it's a huge endeavor.

"We cooked about 165 turkeys — that’s about 4,000 pounds, roughly," he said. "I’ve got 700 pies that are being delivered, about 240 litres of ice cream, about 80 gallons of gravy."

Spokesperson Keela Keeping said they expect to serve about 3,000 meals.

"When you’re serving over 3,000 meals in a day, you need a lot of extra help," she said.

"So we have about 200 people from within the community in various shifts coming throughout the day. It’s super great to have them. They love interacting with the people and it just makes it possible … so it’s just a really fun day."

But Keeping says it doesn't stop with a hot meal.

"With our meal program, it doesn’t end at a meal," she said. "We get people aware of our programs — shelter, drug and alcohol recovery, work and employment programs — so they’re moving on in life and they’re getting the support they need."