Merchant’s Mission of Mercy to Benefit Echo Park Agency : Ron Ross’ wish to help the needy on Thanksgiving snowballed into a communitywide effort that will feed 1,000.

The House of Mercy of St. Francis of Assisi has traditionally been ignored at Thanksgiving.

Larger and better-known missions and social service agencies see an outpouring of donations around the holiday, but the House of Mercy in Echo Park last year fed 300 needy people a meager meal of turkey and fruit punch scrounged from government surpluses.

This year, though, the 6-year-old mission at 812 N. Alvarado St. will feed 1,000 people a hearty turkey dinner with all the trimmings, thanks to the owner and employees of an upscale Studio City clothing store, Ron Ross.

The project began as a simple desire by store owner Ron Ross to find a charity that his family could help this Thanksgiving. But his employees jumped on the bandwagon and began rounding up donations of food, equipment and time from community members.

Supermarkets, restaurants and caterers such as Gelson’s Market, Rococo Catering, Bakers Square restaurants and Miss Grace Lemon Cake are supplying food, and several private schools and businesses are providing serving equipment, tables and chairs. There will even be a couple of buses to pick up homeless people from Downtown and bring them to the dinner, which will be served from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday.

“This year has been a blessing,” said a grateful Father Juan Correa, founder and director of the House of Mercy, which helps needy Latino immigrants find food, shelter and comfort. “It’s a big lesson for me that by asking, you receive.”

Ross said he, too, was overwhelmed by the response from the community. “It’s incredible how much people want to donate,” Ross said. “I started making some calls and I quickly found out I’m not the only one feeling this way.”

Ross’ desire to find a charity that he and his three children, ages 10, 13 and 19, could assist stemmed from a sense of appreciation about his own comfortable life.

“Suddenly, you drive out to your lovely little home in the suburbs and you see homeless people with their kids on the freeway off-ramps, and this isn’t Downtown,” said Ross, who has run his clothing store for more than 20 years.

“If I was 25, maybe it wouldn’t hit me in the same way. Being 45, it has. Certainly, in the ‘80s I didn’t think about it. But I’ve had a terrific life, and I saw I could make a difference, even if in a minute way.”

Ross specifically sought out a lesser-known charity to help. When Ross’ personal assistant Avarie Shevin heard about the House of Mercy and called Correa, she said the priest didn’t ask for much.

“When I first called Father Correa, he didn’t really tell us how little help he’d gotten in the past,” Shevin said. “He just told us, ‘Why don’t you pick a food that you want to bring?’ ”

But once Ross and Shevin visited the mission and learned how scarce community contributions had been, the store owner and his employees quickly began gathering support from their customers and others.

Helping the House of Mercy isn’t Ross’ first philanthropic effort. For the past three years, he has required customers who flock to his semiannual half-price sales to bring cans of food to get discounted prices, and he and his employees have participated in community events such as AIDS Walk L.A.

And Ross says the House of Mercy dinner won’t be his last charitable effort. He’s already hoping to host some neighborhood cleanup efforts and feed individuals at other locations, like AIDS hospices.

Information: Avarie Shevin (818) 788-8700 or House of Mercy (213) 483-6952.

Thanksgiving Meals Served

Free Thanksgiving dinners will be offered at the following locations:

* Union Rescue Mission, 266 S. Main St.; 10 a.m.

* Fred Jordan Mission, 303 E. 5th St.; 11 a.m.

* Emmanuel Baptist Rescue Mission, 530 E. 5th St.; 8:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.

* House of Mercy, 812 N. Alvarado St.; noon to 4 p.m.

* Filipino American Service Group, 2001 Beverly Blvd.; noon.

* United States Mission/Hudson House, 1154 N. Western Ave.; 1 to 4 p.m.