A bridge ministry that started by feeding 50 homeless people living under a bridge in Georgia has grown to the point over 1,500 homeless men and women were fed a pre-Thanksgiving dinner.

Pastor Roger Gardner of New Hope Worship Center in Augusta, Georgia founded the ministry in 2007 with an initial group of 50.  The church now holds services under a bridge every Saturday and regularly sees around 350 people per week.

“Last Saturday we had about 400 volunteers show up and we feed about 1,500 people … we usually grow about 200 a year but it seems there is more desperation in our nation today than there was a year ago,” Pastor Gardner told Fox News.

Volunteers said they give away over 1,000 hot meals a month at Bridge Ministry and over 600 bags of hygiene products.  The group has even started a food pantry that serves local families who are facing tough times.

Gardner said their hard work comes from a passion to minister to the poor.

“We want to see our homeless people get jobs and come off of drugs and have the opportunity to blend back into society,” he said.

“The average American looks at a homeless person as an invisible person.  We see them as a soul, as a human being…people have the idea that poverty is being poor and hungry and naked but poverty is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. They are our brothers and sisters.”