ORLANDO, Fla. — For the better part of three decades, The Salvation Army has offered Thanksgiving dinner at its offices north of downtown Orlando.

Staffers and volunteers put flowers on tables. They sit and talk with people they serve. And about 15,000 people enjoy a Thanksgiving meal that they otherwise likely wouldn’t have had.

“Of course, COVID has changed all of that for this year,” said Capt. Ken Chapman, area commander for The Salvation Army of Orange and Osceola counties.

The organization this year says it will honor social-distancing protocols and offer in Orlando two days of drive-thru or pick-up service in lieu of one sit-down Thanksgiving meal.

From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving, the organization plans to distribute food boxes and frozen turkeys at its 440 W. Colonial Dr. location.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, the organization plans to serve at the same location to-go meals and, courtesy of Orlando-based Clean the World, offer showers and toiletry kits for the homeless.

Also, on Wednesday, The Salvation Army’s area operation says it will distribute food boxes and turkeys from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 700 Union St. in Kissimmee.

Through those events, the organization says it aims to serve about 13,500 people, including about 13,000 in Orlando.

The smaller number in Orlando than in previous years comes as a result of spacing and social-distancing protocols during the coronavirus pandemic, The Salvation Army says.

“It’s not a matter of funding, because we’ve had some generous folks step up and help us,” said Chapman, the area commander.

Yet Chapman emphasized the need exists beyond Thanksgiving and that the pandemic is affecting the organization’s traditional way of raising money during the holiday season.

In Orange County, The Salvation Army is decreasing from 80 in previous years to 20 the number of bell-ringers who solicit donations into those iconic red kettles. In Osceola County, the number is dropping from 24 to 12.

The organization thereby is urging people, companies, and organizations to adopt so-called virtual kettles through which they can solicit donations. Through that effort, The Salvation Army says it could collect $1 million locally by Christmas Eve.

“There is so much need out there,” Chapman said.

The pandemic has produced “a new class of homelessness, so to speak — people on the verge of homelessness because they’ve been laid off or their hours have been cut.”

From when the pandemic hit in March through October, he said, his organization has served more than 400,000 people via drive-thru food distributions. “That tells you an awful lot that there’s a lot of people in need,” he said.

The Salvation Army extends the offer of Thanksgiving meals to “anybody who is in need,” including of companionship, Chapman said.

“Just show up,” he said, “and we will feed you.”