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On Saturday evening, Leverett helped make that difference. He and other members of the Silver Spring Moose Lodge 658 cooked and served dinner at the lodge to about 20 Iraq veterans, who are recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in nearby Washington, D.C.

Leverett and Jeff McKissack of Glenelg manned two grills on the front porch of the lodge on Wayne Avenue, cooking steaks to be served to the soldiers and Moose Lodge members attending Saturday night’s dinner. They also greeted the men and women who made their way up a wooden ramp and into the building.

‘‘We stick together and we help each other out, and we help the community out,” McKissack said.

‘‘We appreciate what they do,” added Silver Spring resident Frank Courtney, who was helping take the steaks inside.

After hearing the soldiers needed a place to spend time away from the hospital, the lodge invited them to attend its weekly Saturday dinners, which start at 7 p.m., said Takoma Park resident Tom Kenny, the lodge governor.

‘‘Seeing as we’re right next to Walter Reed, it’s an easy location for them to get to,” Kenny said. Saturday’s dinner was the first time the soldiers ate at the lodge, but they will continue to attend.

The home-cooked meal — steak on the grill, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, green beans, salad and apple pie with vanilla ice cream — would hopefully remind the men and women of home, Kenny said, as would the atmosphere at the lodge.

‘‘It looks like a place you might find anywhere,” he said.

Soldiers’ Angels, a non-profit organization that supports members of the military during and after deployment, brought the men and women to the lodge. The Saturday dinner at the lodge supplements a Friday dinner held at a different location each week. The soldiers used to eat dinners at Fran O’Brien’s every Friday night before the D.C. restaurant closed.

‘‘This is so convenient,” said Lynette Frascella, wounded program director for Soldiers’ Angels, who let the men and women know about the evening’s event. ‘‘There are people stationed close to here, so this is very nice.”

Frascella said the soldiers at Saturday’s dinner were not permitted to speak with the media or be photographed.

Members of the lodge were excited to share a meal with the men and women from Walter Reed, who filled nearly four tables at the lodge and listened to live country and rock music while they ate.

‘‘I think it’s wonderful,” said Silver Spring resident Mabel Hargrove, the lodge’s secretary and treasurer. ‘‘These guys deserve so much. It’s a way of showing our appreciation.”

Feeding them dinner, she said, was a way to thank the ‘‘unsung heroes.”

Don Wilson, a Moose member who usually goes to the lodge in College Park, attended dinner Saturday with his friend Ethel Lo’Laughlin of Silver Spring.

‘‘I think it’s a great idea,” said Wilson, a Korean War veteran, of including the soldiers. ‘‘It’s a good thing. People did it for me.”

Wilson lost a lung during the Korean War. When he returned home, he said, people did what they could to help him, feeding him, spending time with him and supporting him.

Silver Spring resident Mary Grace Dennis shuttled yellow plastic trays filled with plates from the lodge’s kitchen to the dining room. Before she made the trek, she fished pats of butter from an ice-filled bowl and put them on plates heaping with food. She was happy to make the walk to each table and talk briefly with the soldiers as she gave them their meals.

‘‘I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Dennis said. ‘‘They need some attention.”