Giving back just in time for the holidays, R. Kelly will be hosting a special Thanksgiving dinner for some 200 soldiers followed by a concert. Reportedly thankful for the men and women’s sacrifices, Kelly’s Thanksgiving feast will be laid out for soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical  Center and other U.S. Army facilities in the Washington D.C. area.

Speaking of the upcoming feast, Kelly said “There’s nothing worse than being away from your loved ones at the holidays” in a statement. “This is my way of my way of saying thank you to all the brave men and women who have given up so much in order to protect us. It’s their sacrifices that allow us to sleep comfortably at night and send our children off to school in the morning.”

Kelly’s history of supporting the troops goes back to 2003, when his single “Soldier’s Heart” became an unofficial anthem of support for American fighting men and women deployed to Iraq. Kelly donated proceeds from that song to charities that support the families of soldiers, including Army Emergency Relief. Later that year, he did a free concert for 10,000 troops at Fort Hood, Texas, that was also broadcast via satellite to soldiers serving on the front lines in Iraq.