A Feast for the Holiday : Church Group Offers Meals to 450 Needy

It was word on the street that brought Thor Wahlgren to the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Christmas Day.

That, and the lure of a hot turkey Christmas dinner, his first full meal “in about a year,” Wahlgren said. A homeless man from Newport Beach, Wahlgren had wandered into another Garden Grove church on Christmas morning before someone pointed him toward the Adventist church on 9th Street.

With bus service limited by the holiday, “I walked on foot. That’s how I get around,” said Wahlgren, 35, who was carrying his soiled belongings in a blanket and waiting to join 450 other needy people who gathered at the church for dinner.

The poor and homeless filled the church’s second-story fellowship hall. Children were treated to gifts, a puppet show and a personal chat with Santa; they and the adults ate hearty meals prepared by Steve Manchester of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

The free turkey dinner has become a Christmas tradition, presented by a coalition of 14 churches in Garden Grove, Manchester said. No one is ever turned away, said Manchester, who helps the church group serve hot meals at various locations around the city five days a week.

“They come, they have a need, we fill it the best we can,” said Manchester, 71, of Huntington Beach, who wore a bright red apron decorated with an American flag and a Christmas-themed Snoopy button.

Manchester, a retired Army major with 28 years of infantry service, runs the homeless feeding program for the Crystal Cathedral and coordinates the meals provided by Garden Grove Real Help, an interdenominational program that serves them Monday through Friday.

Like the Christmas dinner, Real Help is funded by donations from the city’s churches--particularly the Lutheran social services program--and people throughout the community. The organization thrives on the agencies’ cooperation, feeding nearly 300 people a week, Manchester said.

“Give us $10 and we can feed 50 people,” he said.

Manchester spent all day Sunday preparing 35 turkeys for the Christmas Day meal, then spent Monday making “old-fashioned gravy with tons of meat and giblets” and directing volunteers from various churches who distributed the plates.

They included Jeanette Uptgraft, a Westminster resident for 26 years before moving to Indiana who returned to Orange County to spend Christmas with her daughters. Because they are active members of the Seventh-day Adventist church, that meant spending most of the day helping out at the turkey dinner.

“We spent last night with our grandchildren and dedicated today for this,” she said, looking out on the roomful of diners. “What better way, really, to spend Christmas?”

Their efforts were appreciated by Carmen DeSantiago and her family. DeSantiago, 30, of Santa Ana piled her seven children into their car for the short ride to the church, where they took up an entire table.

The children, who range in age from 16 years to 18 months, each ate their fill between shifts holding the babies. Since DeSantiago lost her job, her family members have become regulars at the Real Help dinners. “They are very nice people,” she said.