Students Cook Up Some Hope

Eleven students from the Foundations School Community, a private school in Van Nuys, prepared and served Thanksgiving dinner this week to women and children at a homeless shelter.

“We wouldn’t have had a turkey if not for them,” said 17-year-old Nancy, who enjoyed the meal with her children--Juan, 2, Jasmine, 2 months--and her disabled mother and 14-year-old sister.

Nancy and her family were among about 50 women and children who stopped by the resource center of the Woman’s Care Cottage in North Hollywood for a student-prepared meal of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes and a yam casserole topped off with sprinkled pecans.

Some women had been on the streets for years; others had made their way back from hard times and wanted to show their support for other families.

Nancy, whose family moved to Los Angeles from Mexico City in 1991, said her family hit rock-bottom last year when her father, a street vendor in South-Central Los Angeles, was arrested and convicted of raping her younger sister.

“He broke our hearts,” Nancy said of the abuse that went undetected for three years. “All my little sister ever wanted was a Barbie dollhouse, and that’s what she got instead.”

The family relies on the paycheck of Nancy’s boyfriend and father of her two children, and on support from the Woman’s Care Cottage, which has provided food vouchers, clothing, bus tokens and mental health therapy.

Tianna Agell, a fifth-grader from Foundations School, took time out from serving the busy buffet line to hold and rock Jasmine while Nancy enjoyed a second helping of mashed potatoes.

“We wouldn’t have made it without this place,” Nancy said through tears.

The elementary school students sang songs while the women and children set their forks aside to clap along: “Give a little love, have a little hope. . . . We can make it better, only if we try.”

After dessert, many women relaxed on sofas and chairs while the students and some of their parents cleaned up.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am at how good the food was,” said Brigette Barnes, 37. “I’ve eaten enough for two days.”

Barnes, who has been homeless for two weeks since losing her job as a preschool teacher, sleeps at a nearby Woman’s Care Cottage shelter.

“When you are in this situation, you feel like an outcast,” Barnes said, adding that she would spend Thanksgiving Day alone.

The students got the idea to go beyond the usual canned food drive for Thanksgiving after taking to heart the plight of homeless men and women living in a vacant lot next to their school.

“We wanted to do something special for them because we can see all the things that they don’t have,” 12-year-old Connor Kelly-Eiding said.

When plans fell through to serve the meal at school, co-director Sheri Werner contacted the Woman’s Care Cottage.

“I feel good about this,” Connor said. “We are helping the community, and that’s what our school is all about.”

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The students worked for about a month collecting donations from stores, gathering recipes, shopping for groceries and making clay turkey centerpieces and colored construction paper place mats. They used the school’s kitchen to cook. Other recipes were prepared at home.

“It’s not about the grades kids get on an exam,” Werner said. “The kids have learned the power of their ability to make a difference in the lives of people and how service to others is critical. This is a project of the heart.”

The students enjoyed the fruits of their effort by dining with the women in shifts but continuing to serve when needed.

“More pumpkin pie coming up,” 10-year-old Ari Morcos said to one of the women. “You want whipped cream on that?”

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