JOHNSBURG – Several young adults were scattered throughout a large dining room Thursday, heads down as they talked on cellphones and tablets.

These particular young people were taking a rare opportunity to talk to family members they hadn’t had contact with in five weeks.

Clad in beige and black, the roughly 42 naval recruits were spending a day away from training at the Great Lakes Naval base as guests of the McHenry Moose Lodge 691, which provided food, fun and entertainment.

“These sailors are in boot camp right now, and they haven’t been able to talk to their families,” said Rick Diamond, governor of the lodge. “We provide them with cellphones so they can call them. We want to help these kids, to thank them for what they’re doing for us.”

[ PHOTOS: Great Lakes Naval Sailors connect with family, enjoy Thanksgiving meal in McHenry ]

With the help of numerous volunteers and area businesses, such as Olive Garden and Jimmy Johns, the lodge provided full Thanksgiving meals to the recruits, as well as to the Mooseheart children.

For 18-year-old naval recruit Rose Arredondo, who’s from San Antonio, Texas, the event might have lacked her mom’s tamales and enchiladas, but it still embodied the Thanksgiving spirit she’s used to.

“This is the first holiday where I haven’t seen any of my family at all,” Arredondo said. “But this honestly makes me feel so good because there’s so many different radical opinions about the military. ... But to see all these people so willing to put a smile on our faces, and just let us relax, it’s amazing.”

It was just one of the ways those in McHenry County made the most out of the family- and food-filled holiday.

In Algonquin, the Knights of Columbus at St. Margaret Mary Parish also hosted sailors for two full meals, and provided laptops for them to communicate with their families. The VFW Post 4600 in McHenry held a similar event, hosting sailors for a sit-down dinner.

In Crystal Lake, volunteers organized and delivered mountains of food to a food pantry during the annual Community Harvest. And nearby, more than 100 people were being served hot Thanksgiving dinners at The Salvation Army of McHenry County.

[ VIDEO: Community Harvest in Crystal Lake helps the hungry on Thanksgiving ]

For the first time, the local Salvation Army provided free meals to anyone who needed one throughout the holiday, Capt. Carol Lewis said.

By midday, about 120 people had been served and 60 meals had been delivered, she added.

[ VIDEO: Salvation Army hosts Thanksgiving community meal in Crystal Lake ]

Partnerships with entities such as PADS and Pioneer Center for Human Services helped word spread throughout the community, which provided not only those who benefited from the program, but “an army” of volunteers.

“We wanted to make sure everyone was remembered today,” said Linda West, spokeswoman for The Salvation Army. “We wanted to be like home.”

Leftover food from both The Salvation Army and the Moose Lodge was going to be put to good use once Thanksgiving came to an end, representatives from both organizations said.

The Salvation Army will be making deliveries to shelters and churches, and the Moose Lodge will be hosting another free event from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday for anyone age 55 or older.