A Day of Giving

On a bright, mostly clear holiday, as families gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving in their homes or vacation resorts, hundreds of volunteers staffed serving lines throughout Southern California to feed several thousand elderly, homeless and needy people.

On skid row in downtown Los Angeles, some 3,000 people lined up outside the Fred Jordan Mission for a traditional feast of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and yams. The mission has hosted the event since 1944.

Many came for the food, others to enjoy the live gospel music, and others mainly for the company on a holiday built around fellowship with friends and family.

“It’s not that I’m that hungry. It’s just that I wanted to be around people,” said Lester Marshall, 74, who lives alone in an area hotel and has no close living relatives. “I’m not looking to make pals with everyone, but it’s nice to be around a little excitement.”

Thomas Evans, 52, who has been homeless in Los Angeles for eight days, said the kindness of the volunteers made him think for the first time in quite a while that life was beautiful.

“Everyone should be thankful to even have a life and to be among people,” he said.

Betty Bryant, one of the ranks of volunteers assisting the mission staff, said, “I feel it is not up to the rich, but to the middle class to help out and make the most difference.

“It just hurts my heart to see children out here,” Bryant said. “This country should be able to keep the children from going hungry.”

To add a special touch to the event, L.A. Cellular invited each diner to make one free phone call anywhere in the country.

Terry Spencer called a girlfriend in Wichita, Kan.

“I told her I was going to Kansas for Christmas,” Spencer said. “She was excited. So am I.”

Along Western Avenue, the United States Mission served another 3,000 folks.

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Perhaps the largest group, some 4,000 people, got an early start on the feasting when the Los Angeles Mission served turkey and pumpkin pie on the rainy day before the holiday. The mission added extra lures this year--screening for breast cancer and HIV.

The Salvation Army fed an estimated 2,000 senior citizens, homeless and needy people Thursday at its centers in Compton, Glendale, Pasadena and South Gate.

In Canoga Park, volunteers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley station helped the Woodland Hills Optimist Club and the West Valley Police Activity League serve 700 people at the Guadalupe Community Center.

Assemblyman Rod Wright (D-Los Angeles) joined members of the Brotherhood Crusade and Mothers in Action to serve Thanksgiving dinners to senior citizens at Ward Villas on West Adams Boulevard.

In Orange County, food was also the theme of the day--especially at the old-fashioned potluck staged in the Jeffrey-Lynne neighborhood of Anaheim. Hundreds of residents walked from their homes to the dinner, carrying dishes they had made.

Ingredients for the varied offerings, including rice and beans and spicy potatoes, were donated by the Anaheim Firefighters Union, Ironworkers Union Local 433 and St. Boniface Catholic Church.

“It’s similar to what was done at the very first Thanksgiving so long ago,” said Josie Montoya, a neighborhood spokeswoman. “People reaching out to people, and sharing what they have with others.”

The Main Place Christian Fellowship in Tustin concentrated on starting the holiday off right with a good breakfast for some 300 underprivileged people. The menu offered not turkey, but fluffy pumpkin pancakes.

“I’m giving thanks for this food today, whether it’s breakfast, turkeyless or whatever,” said Eric Howard, 43, a disabled welder who lives at a nearby Santa Ana motel. “I’m with people who care about others. I’m lucky. That’s what the holiday’s about, right?”

Perhaps one of the largest private family gatherings occurred at St. John’s Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica where family patriarch Antonio Galvan, 98, didn’t want to miss Thanksgiving dinner despite complications from recent gall bladder surgery.

He and his wife, Maria, 94, invited some 85 relatives, representing five generations, to join them for dinner at the hospital cafeteria. Galvan, a former groundskeeper for Will Rogers, said he didn’t want “to break tradition” in a family that gathers for Thanksgiving annually from all over the country.

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Some Southlanders chose an active start to the day of overeating and turning into couch potatoes in front of the television.

In La Canada Flintridge, the fourth annual “5K Run for the Hungry” raised money for the Ronald McDonald House, the La Canada Flintridge Community Center Scholarship Fund, Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, Five Acres Boys & Girls Aid Society of Los Angeles and the Glendale Homeless Shelter.

In Torrance, the Parks and Recreation Department sponsored its 18th annual three-mile run and drive to collect canned food. The event is titled the “Harry Sutter Memorial Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot Fun Run” and raises money for the department’s Afterschool Club Program.

Wednesday’s storm brought a welcome traditional Thanksgiving start to the ski season in the Northern California Sierras. Up to 3 feet of snow fell on the higher summits, allowing most resorts to open.

Although generally clear skies and brisk temperatures made travel easier than Wednesday, when rain prompted a 54-car pileup in San Jose, the California Highway Patrol nonetheless chalked up several accidents as the four-day holiday weekend began.

Two deaths were recorded along Los Angeles County freeways during the first 12-hour segment of the period, from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday.

One man died in a seven-vehicle accident near the Vermont Street off-ramp of the 405 Freeway about 10 miles south of downtown. He was not identified.

Along the same freeway, Anna Torres, 19, of Long Beach, was fatally shot about 1:30 a.m. Thursday by gang members in another car at the 110 and 405 interchange. Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesmen said gang members argued with a group of people at a Gardena party, followed them onto the freeway and shot into their cars. Injured were Sylvester Ibarra, 19; Juan Zuniga, 18, and Daniel Zuniga, 17.

Statewide, the CHP said seven people were killed in traffic accidents during the first 12 hours of the weekend, up from five deaths last year.

There were 221 arrests throughout California for driving under the influence in that time period, down from 275 last year. In Los Angeles County, 41 people were arrested for drunk driving, down from 64 last year.

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Times staff writer Bonnie Hayes contributed to this story from Orange County.