TOKYO – The day before Thanksgiving, Jim McGee was, fittingly, spending his evening giving his time to help feed children and families in need.

McGee, the chief of U.S. Army Garrison Japan’s Visual Information Division at Camp Zama, Japan, was at the Manbow Children’s Cafeteria in Setagaya with other volunteers to help prepare and serve food to the patrons there.

McGee, a navy veteran, first came to Japan in 1988 when he was stationed at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, and said he immediately fell in love with the country’s people and culture. He has worked at Camp Zama on and off for 15 years since 2005.

In return for the hospitality the Japanese people have shown him in his many years here, McGee said he is always looking for opportunities to give back to them. A few months ago, he learned about Manbow and its mission from a friend who co-founded the organization.

Manbow opened about a year ago to offer help the local community — not just with providing free food to children in need, but with providing support and care to young parents. The cafeteria opens twice a month for dinner.

McGee asked his friend if he could be involved, and his offer was accepted right away. The cafeteria relies heavily on volunteers to help with food preparation, cooking and serving. His first opportunity to help was, coincidentally, Nov. 22 — the day before Thanksgiving.

“I thought, ‘What a great opportunity to help provide food to a bunch of people,’ because Thanksgiving is all about sharing food with friends and strangers, and it’s America’s greatest holiday,” McGee said.

After arriving at the cafeteria, he was immediately put to work stuffing small shells of dough to make Japanese dumplings, known as “gyoza.” He quickly got the hang of it and together with the team of volunteers, they stuffed and pan-friend between 600 and 700 of the dumplings.

Once everything was prepared, it came time for what McGee said was the most rewarding part of the evening: serving the food to the children and their parents.

“I could have done that all day long because the children were so cute and polite,” McGee said. “Everyone was so genuinely grateful and came back to say ‘Thank you’ and ask why I was there and how I got involved.”

Yumiko Yoshimi, president of the Manbow cafeteria, opened the facility because she said she had begun to see a widening disparity in the economic classes in her community. Children from lower class families in particular tend to face a variety of complex issues, Yoshimi said, so she wanted to do something for those members of the community she has been living in for most of her life.

“I think the role of our cafeteria is to fill the stomachs and the hearts of those who come here and to put smiles on their faces,” she said.

Yoshimi named the cafeteria “Manbow,” which is Japanese for “sunfish.” In many cultures, the fish is associated with happiness.

“When people think of a place like this, they probably imagine a dimly lit, quiet place where everyone is looking down,” Yoshimi said. “But our cafeteria is different. Everyone here is excited, and some people are even visibly energized. For them, this place is just like their home.”

Yoshimi said volunteers like McGee are always welcome because their contributions help to raise awareness of what Manbow is doing to help the community in Setagaya.

“This is a great opportunity for both local and foreign volunteers to realize that there are children in Japan who need help,” she said.

McGee said his first opportunity to volunteer at Manbow was serendipitous because Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday. He said the day truly has no agenda other than welcoming family, friends and even strangers to share a meal together.

“This event gave me that experience on a grand scale,” he said. “It will be a Thanksgiving that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”