With the holiday season getting under way Lowe's has announced that it will be providing free meals to local residents affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The company announced that 35 of its stores in New York and New Jersey, including the store at 1053 Route 70, Manchester, will be providing more than 22,000 complete Thanksgiving dinners. The dinners include a fresh roasted turkey or ham, mashed potatoes and gravy along with sweet corn and rolls. Table Talk Pies of Worcester, Mass., also donated more than 43 thousand pies for the meals.

In addition to the 500 meals each store will distribute the company also said that all employees of the store will also get a free meal, "as a thank you for their dedication before, during and after the storm," a press release from the company said. 

The total project is estimated to feed more than 136 thousand people in the affected towns with more than $1 million worth of free food. 

Meals will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday.