TUCSON, Ariz. — Thousands of people packed the Tucson Convention Center this Christmas Day for the Salvation Army’s annual holiday feast.

The event has everything from live music to gifts for the kids.  One man says Christmas would just be another day without it.

“It’s a big deal.  It’s a big deal,” said Ken Jarred.

For the past 10 years Ken Jarred has spent Christmas Day at the Salvation Army’s holiday dinner.

“As far as for really a celebration, this is it,” said Jarred.

Ken is homeless, which means he’s on the streets 24/seven. There’s no break on Christmas.

“Sometimes we don’t know where our next meal is going to be. It’s all we got,” said Jarred.

Sunday Ken and thousands of others who found themselves in a financial bind this holiday got to indulge for once.

Lots of live music, visits with Santa and then of course, there’s all the food.

“We have a couple hundred turkeys.  There are over 100 hams that have been served.  Three hundred take out lunches are going out.  We have hundreds of toys for the kids,” said Tamara McElwee from the Salvation Army.

It’s all made possible with the help of about 300 volunteers like Carlie Frazee.

“I love it!  It’s a lot of fun spending time, meeting new people and being able to serve and to be able to bless people by just doing something small that doesn’t even take a lot of effort,” said Frazee.

Frazee says year after year there’s always a job for everyone.  And for people like Ken it’s greatly appreciated.

“It’s something to see.  It’s really something to see,” Jarred said.