(CBS)  Ask Vickie Dean if life is easy, and she'll be the first to tell you - it's not.

Still, this single mother, who once depended on charity to feed her special needs son, has much she's thankful for, reports CBS News correspondent Don Teague.

"I'm thankful for my family, my friends," Dean said.

Today, Dean is not receiving a meal from the North Texas Food Bank. She and her son are volunteering to help provide 13,000 meals for others.

"We've pretty much been on both sides, so this is our way of paying forward," Dean said.

The North Texas Food Bank is one of the largest food banks in the nation. It's provided 2.3 million people with food so far this year. But that requires a tremendous amount of volunteers - 22,000 at this facility alone.

With so many in America struggling, unemployment stuck near 10 percent, and 42 million people using food stamps, simple acts of generosity are as important today as ever. Americans are responding. In the last year, more than 63 million have volunteered to help others.


Celebrating Abundance, But without the Waste

In Colorado, a bride whose wedding was suddenly called off decided to go ahead with the reception - feeding 150 homeless.

And in Dallas, one steakhouse decided to go all out by providing five star Thanksgiving meals for 10 families.

For Robin Barnes, an unemployed single mother of three, who does not even have a table to eat on, it makes all the difference in the world.

"They want the dressing, they want the turkey," Barnes said. "They want to have like others have, but if I didn't, probably for them it would have been a disaster."

This year many in America will give thanks - for the helping hands of others.



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