Sharing "Hope and Turkey" on Thanksgiving, Light of Life Rescue Mission continued its tradition of serving holiday meals to the needy on the holiday in its new shelter on Pittsburgh's North Side.Watch the report from the North Side: Click the video player above.Executive director Jerrel Gilliam told Pittsbugh's Action News 4, "For over 25 years, we've been looking for a place where we can have this built with dignity and respect. In the other building, it was so small, we could only serve a few people at a time, so people had to wait outside in the rain or in the cold. Today's the first time where we could have everybody come in at the same time."Karen Ilkin, widow of former Pittsburgh Steeler and broadcaster Tunch Ilkin, was among those serving meals. Her husband was a tireless supporter and advocate for Light of Life."Tunch just loved this city, and his love of this city manifested itself through Light of Life. He found a group of people that loved the people, loved the Lord, and that just brought them together in a beautiful way," Karen Ilkin told Pittsburgh's Action News 4. "So, I'm just grateful that he was able to see it earlier this year, and he's sorely missed today. I know he would be here, elbow to elbow with Wolf, serving the fixings and just loving every minute of this."Tunch Iilkin's longtime friend and colleague Craig Wolfley, the Steelers broadcaster and former offensive lineman, joined Karen Ilkin in serving meals at Light of Life on Thursday."It was his vision and this is the result of, I think, it was like 25 years of this whole vision coming forward. So, yeah, this is the result of what he started a long time ago," Wolfley said. "This is what he was all about. He loved (it). He'd be in here, and he'd be slinging some hash, loving on people, telling them come on in, breaking protocol left and right. Because that was who he was. He loved on people.""Tunch loved the mission. He had such a heart for the mission, and he did have the opportunity to see the grand opening of this building and this was just a vision for him for so many years," Karen Ilkin said.Wolfley said, "This was his heart. He was just so much a a part of this."County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who joined in volunteering Thursday, said, "For Tunch, he was part of building this place. He put a lot of effort in it. This is part of his legacy, there's no question."Pittsburgh's current and future mayors joined in serving meals at the mission as well.Mayor Bill Peduto said, "This facility and this mission serve the people of Pittsburgh, and it does more than just serve those that need help at this point in their life. It helps transition them in order to be able to get back."Mayor-Elect Ed Gainey said, "I think this is incredible. I think that this is what Thanksgiving is about, and I think this speaks volumes about that. We want to thank the organization for doing an incredible job, not only this year but over the course of history, they've been doing it for the community."Gainey said, "It speaks to a greater issue that I think we should be concerned with, and that's the homelessness, that's the people that are dealing with food insecurity. We have to address that. Both of those issues are vital, and we need to address them to assure that the people have, one, shelter, and that, two, they have food. That makes someone feel good, as you can see here today."Peduto, who leaves office in January, is looking back on Light of Life's tradition of serving the needy and its establishing its new larger shelter on the North Side."I worked on finding this location with Light of Life back when I was in my first term as mayor, and so it's very significant. And when I walked into this room, and I saw the (large, bright) windows, and I saw the families that were gathered and it looked like a restaurant. It didn't look like a homeless shelter. It was kind of breathtaking," Peduto said.