Meal Makers Are as Happy as Meal Takers : Holiday: ‘What we get out of it is to see that people get fed and that they go out of here with a good feeling.’

John Thompson, one of Oxnard’s homeless, stared at his plate piled high with turkey and dressing.

“I can’t remember the last time I had a good meal,” Thompson said. “It’s been so long.”

Thompson, 47, was among the many people served free Thanksgiving meals by members of the Zoe Christian Center, one of a number of community organizations that provided meals for the needy throughout the county.

“This is very nice,” Thompson said. “A man living on the streets needs a more humane feeling--to be around people--on the holidays.” He said it was the second time he had spent Thanksgiving at the center.

Chuck Paul Whitaker of Oxnard, 65, said it was his fourth holiday at the center. He said he lives off his Social Security income, which doesn’t leave much for fancy meals.

“This is the best thing Zoe could ever do” for the needy, he said. “It helps people on the street. I’m taking home a plate for dinner later.”

Annie Burney, who is in charge of preparing the meals, said she and a crew of about two dozen people started cooking early Wednesday. She said most of the food--which included turkey, hams, vegetables, pies and cakes--was donated by community groups and local restaurants.

Burney, 50, said she has been in charge of preparing meals on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter for the last 10 years. She said there is always an “overabundance of volunteers” to assist in the cooking chores.

“I love it,” she said, adding that she and her crew expected to serve about 1,300 meals before they shut down at 5 p.m.

Ben Taitai, 42, said it was the second Thanksgiving that he and his 8-year-old son, Kavika, had worked at the center.

Taitai’s eyes welled up with tears as he watched Kavika carry bread from a storage room to the kitchen.

“I’m very proud of him,” Taitai said. “What I’m trying to teach him is that whatever he has, he’s blessed. We want to let him know that what God gave you, you should give back whatever you can when you can.”

Across the county in Simi Valley, Ed Calvert and six other volunteers at the Grace Brethren Church were busy passing out free meals to the needy, as they have been doing every Monday and Thursday for the last three years.

“What we get out of it is to see that people get fed and that they go out of here with a good feeling,” Calvert, 70, said.

Jay Viles, a 35-year-old unemployed machinist, said he eats at the church every week, and if it weren’t for the church, he wouldn’t have had a Thanksgiving meal. “It’s great,” said Viles, who has been living out of his car for a year. “I’m alive.”

Calvert, of Simi Valley, estimated that the church would serve 50 to 60 meals Thursday.

In Ventura, Ronald Dwayne Maxwell, who lives on the streets, joined in singing “God Bless America” between bites of turkey and pie at a similar luncheon sponsored by the Knights of Columbus lodge.

“I don’t have anything, not even a decent pair of shoes, but I’ve got a lot of friends,” Maxwell, 46, said. “This is great.”

Knights of Columbus members Charlie S. Paeh, 53, and Albert V. Montiel, 63, in charge of preparing the meals, said they began cooking Monday. They estimated that they would serve about 500 people.

Montiel credited Paeh, a former restaurateur, with starting the free meal program 10 years ago.

“I always think about the seniors,” Paeh said. “This is one day we can make them happy and bring them joy.”

Knights of Columbus officials said Thursday’s meals were funded by the organization’s twice-a-week bingo games. They said the group, whose main purpose is to raise money for various charities throughout the year, also delivers free meals to the needy around the Christmas holiday.

“The only pay Charlie and I get is when people leave here with a smile,” Montiel said. “To me, this is life.”