4,000 Feast on Businessmen’s Good Will : In 5 Years, Group’s Christmas Party Mushrooms Into a Tradition

It started five years ago when three San Fernando Valley businessmen served Christmas dinner to a dozen or so needy families.

Now, although the businessmen’s group--named We Share Inc.--remains small, its annual Christmas party has grown to become a tradition for thousands of people who live in less affluent areas of the northeastern Valley.

On Sunday, about 4,000 people from San Fernando, Pacoima and Sylmar attended this year’s event, which featured a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, balloons, entertainment by a magician and a chance for the children to sit on Santa’s lap.

More than 100 volunteers from the Santa Rosa Community Center in San Fernando and the Latin American Civic Assn. served the food from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at San Fernando Junior High School.

“This was beautiful--just a little bit better than last year, I think,” said John Hernandez, a senior citizen from Sylmar. “The food was delicious.”

Many of the guests were dressed in their Sunday best. Five-year-old Elena Guardado of San Fernando showed off the red velvet frock she called her “Christmas dress” and chattered about her visit with Santa.

“He asked me if I’d been a good girl,” she said as she waved a candy cane Santa had given her. “I told him: ‘Yes.’ ”

We Share was started by Dick Yeakel of Chatsworth, an insurance agent, Encino realtor Don Krusha and David Sawaya, an employee of a Woodland Hills escrow company.

Yeakel said the party has gotten bigger over the years and is expected to keep growing. In 1983 the group incorporated as a nonprofit organization, and this year’s event required months of planning, hundreds of volunteer hours and $5,000 in donations, he said.

Yeakel said the only corporate donation, $250, came from Granada Hills Community Hospital.

“This group has done a lot with very little recognition,” said Norm Vies, a representative of Granada Hills Community Hospital. “The remarkable thing is that everything is strictly volunteer.”

The hospital on Sunday honored We Share for its community work.

We Share, which now has a core of about a dozen members, hopes to expand, Yeakel said.

“We want to do different things for the community throughout the year. We want to keep everything local, right here in the northeast Valley.”