With holidays on the way, nonprofit Open Hand Atlanta works to make sure people don't go hungry

Open Hand Atlanta is heading into one of its busiest times of the year, getting thousands of meals to people living with chronic illness.

CBS News Atlanta got an inside look at what it takes to get thousands of meals out the door.

On Friday, 40 volunteers packed around 4,000 meals in roughly two hours, and getting each one out the door takes a small army.

Inside Open Hand Atlanta, volunteers move from station to station, each taking on a piece of the process.

"We have a huge menu of proteins and carbohydrates which go into our balanced meals," said Ed Goldhahn, the director of Volunteer Services.

He said the meals are prepared in the kitchen by staff along with two or three volunteers.

Friday's meal features a vegetarian special.

From the kitchen, to the packing line, to the coolers, every set of hands moves it one step closer to someone's front door.

The volunteers' job at the metro Atlanta nonprofit does not end when the last meal is packed.

"We have volunteer loaders loading the cars for the volunteer drivers, and they go out on about a two-hour route," said Goldhahn.

Packers turn to loaders. Loaders hand off to drivers. That chain ends with people across Atlanta living with chronic illness.

For some of them, the food is part of what helps them manage their health.

"It's one thing to go pack the meals, but then when you actually see who it's going to in order to take their medicine, in order for them to survive, that's what makes this important," said Goldhahn.

Monday through Friday, dozens of people give a few hours of their day so thousands of meals can make it the rest of the way.

Open Hand Atlanta said Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year, when around 50 volunteers come through to help get those packed meals out the door.