So many local residents showed up to volunteer at the D.C. Central Kitchen on Thanksgiving morning that the nonprofit had to appoint a self-titled “volunteer bouncer” to help redirect their goodwill to other local soup kitchens.

Those who arrived before the cutoff — some as early as 6 a.m. — were put into an assembly line and tasked with one of nearly a dozen roles required to get an estimated 5,000 Thanksgiving feasts prepared and wrapped for delivery to area shelters and halfway houses.