Big Helpings of Kindness Across County

Before Thursday, Airman Christopher Parks had never been away from home on Thanksgiving.

And although the 19-year-old missed his family as he sat in the banquet hall of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Port Hueneme eating turkey and stuffing with people he barely knew, he could not have been more thankful.

Foremost on his mind, he said, were his fellow servicemen and women in Afghanistan, who may not have had any meal.

“I’m thinking about them,” said Parks, who joined the Air Force after graduating this year from high school in Tucson. “And I’m thankful I’m here.”

Parks was among scores of military personnel from the Naval Base Ventura County--including airmen training there--who enjoyed the home-cooked turkey dinner, an annual tradition for the volunteer-run VFW.

Across Ventura County, veterans organizations, social service groups, churches and shelters helped provide free holiday meals to the homeless, poor, elderly or those simply without another place to go.

In Moorpark, Melissa and Mark Yeager of Camarillo--their 7-year-old son Alexander and 3-month-old daughter Amanda in tow--delivered hot meals to low-income, homebound senior citizens.

About a dozen families and service groups brought 300 turkey dinners to sick or disabled seniors as part of the Area Agency on Aging’s holiday meals program, said coordinator Christy Cantrell.

Melissa Yeager said she and her husband wanted to create a family tradition of helping others on Thanksgiving, and they yearned to do more than simply donate canned food. This was the family’s second year delivering meals.

“It’s nice to be able to bring a Thanksgiving meal to someone who may not have one otherwise,” she said. “It also makes us realize how lucky we are to have family around and food on the table.”

One of the recipients, 66-year-old John Murphy of Moorpark, said seeing the family--in particular the bright-eyed baby dressed in pink--made his day.

“Believe me, it’s much appreciated,” he said.

At the VFW post, Dan and Ernestine Dunson served turkey, ham, sweet potatoes and Ernestine’s corn bread to hungry military men and women--something they have done for the last seven years.

“These kids are away from home, and this is something we can do for them,” said Dan Dunson, wearing a white hat with big, black letters that read “No. 1 Grandpa.”

Added his wife, who also volunteers at Food Share in Oxnard: “I wouldn’t want to spend Thanksgiving any other way.”

She and other volunteers in the VFW Ladies’ Auxiliary prepared all of the donated food, which included 18 turkeys and 16 hams, said JohnMary Cook, auxiliary president.

“Of all the work that goes into it, it’s just really worth it,” she said. “Especially the young guys that come in, they really appreciate it.”

That was true for Airman Derek Boman. He said he talked to his parents in Minnesota on Thursday morning as they were getting ready for their Thanksgiving dinner.

“It helps to be able to come somewhere and have a good meal,” said the 19-year-old, who was also away from home for the first time this year.

For many of the younger personnel, there are few chances to leave the base, especially on holidays, 27-year-old Seabee Dave Gibbons said. That is why the VFW’s tradition is important, he said.

“We all know what we signed up for,” Gibbons said, “but it’s really cool when these things happen to make us feel at home.”

And it means even more this year, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that sparked the conflict in Afghanistan, said VFW Commander Bill Hoover.

“All of us are veterans of foreign wars, so we know what the level of anxiety is--we know how they feel,” he said. “This year it does mean more, because a lot of these guys could go tomorrow.”

Miles away, in downtown Los Angeles, Edward Stone was having a different Thanksgiving than he expected. He sat at a crowded table covered in white butcher paper, staring at his fat science fiction novel as hungry people milled about and a gospel choir echoed in the background.

It was his first Thanksgiving at a homeless mission.

“It hurts a little bit that I have to come here,” said Stone, 41, who has been homeless since the platemaking company he worked for in North Carolina shut down. “But it’s a blessing that the people here, who could be at home with their families, are here helping us.”

He was joined by another first-timer at the Fred Jordan Mission--31-year-old Rebecca Harris, who brought her two baby daughters for a free meal.

Harris lost her job at a South Gate Del Taco this month.

As her daughters waved heart-shaped lollipops, Harris acknowledged that she would rather spend Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family than strangers.

“But I don’t have food to make, so I’m grateful to be able to come here,” she said.

Norma Flores and Michael Lovett twirled past the outdoor tables, salsa-dancing to the Latin-tinged gospel tunes. The West Los Angeles residents were two of the 1,000 volunteers who flooded the mission.

Flores, like many volunteers across Los Angeles on Thursday, said the terrorist attacks spurred her to donate her time. “I can’t fly to New York and be out there helping, but I can be here in downtown L.A.,” she said.

For eight years, Dara Laski has been in charge of a Thanksgiving giveaway meal in Canoga Park, but never before has she been so deluged with offers to volunteer as she was this holiday season.

“I know that after 9/11 there has been a huge outpouring of support,” said Laski as she dumped a pound of butter into a pot of mashed potatoes in the cramped kitchen of the Guadalupe Community Center. “I have so many volunteers, I don’t know what to do with all of them.”

In Orange County, Betsy Livingston took her family--even her parents visiting from Hawaii--to the Orange County Rescue Mission to help clean up the mess left by 100 volunteers and more than 300 hungry diners.

“It makes it seem more right to help after 9/11,” said Livingston, 40, of Newport Beach.

Jim Sugarman, 43, rounded up his family and neighbors on his Mission Viejo cul-de-sac and brought them to the mission, where they served and cleaned.

“In light of the terrorist attacks, we all have so much to be thankful for,” said Sugarman, who is the neighborhood block captain.

His wife, Ilona, helped serve food while his 9-year-old daughter, Samantha, passed out cranberry sauce.

“It’s not about turkey anymore,” Ilona Sugarman said. “It’s about getting together, camaraderie, humility and being humble and being alive. My friends are getting laid off. The stock market stinks. It’s time to be thankful that I’m alive.”

Livingston’s husband, Dan, said things have changed after the terrorist attacks, and there is so much more to be thankful for.

“So many Americans are serving our country overseas right now, so there’s a greater feeling of thanks for our country,” said Livingston, an attorney. “It’s different now because of what our country has gone through.”

Times staff writers Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Nicholas Riccardi, Michael Krikorian and Mai Tran contributed to this report.