NORTH SYRACUSE (AP) -- Actor Richard Gere has returned to his former upstate New York hometown to help his father and other volunteers for Meals on Wheels celebrate an anniversary.

Gere was on hand for Thursday night's event marking the fifth anniversary of the organization's new building in the village of North Syracuse.

The actor thanked the group's 250 volunteers, including his father, Homer, who still delivers food for Meals on Wheels. His 60-year-old son says that's "pretty extraordinary."

Gere graduated from high school in North Syracuse in 1967.

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