An eight-year-old Michigan boy happily spent the Thanksgiving holiday serving strangers at Mel Trotter Ministries' annual Thanksgiving meal. "I wanted to do it on my sister's birthday," he said.

Carter Elias lost his sister Brookelyn two years back. She was killed after a golf cart-style off road vehicle she and Carter were riding crashed in Gaines Township.

The death of the 10-year-old nicknamed "Boo Boo" was devastating for the Caledonia family. Carter, his sister Sydney, and parents Paul and Tonya Elias, were among 750 volunteers who cooked up or served over 1,500 pounds of turkey along with other dishes and desserts for the community meal.

Over 2,000 people, many of whom are homeless or alone on the holiday were served the free meal in a cavernous ballroom at the DeVos Place Convention Center in downtown Grand Rapids.

"(Carter) said that this is something we used to do as a family, and so it's something that we can do in honor of his sister as a family," Elias said of her son's plea. "And I said 'how about Thanksgiving?' He said 'that's perfect!'"

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Nandini