Child Treats Seniors to a Thanksgiving Feast

Nearly 50 Compton senior citizens feasted on an early Thanksgiving meal Saturday, courtesy of 11-year-old De-Vonce Taylor.

For more than a year, De-Vonce socked away lunch-money savings to pay for the heaping trays of macaroni and cheese, corn, turkey, dressing, rice and string beans arrayed on a table at St. Timothy’s Manor, a senior citizens home where his grandmother and great-grandmother live.

Perhaps the only thing more unusual than such a selfless act from a seventh-grader was that no one who knows him seemed surprised.

“He’ll give his last to someone he thinks is hungry,” said his grandmother, Marie Taylor, 62, who has lived at the home for two years.

De-Vonce’s face behind steel-rimmed glasses was solemn as he ladled steaming food onto plates. “I’m not much of a talker,” he said.

According to those who know him best, De-Vonce prefers to act instead. He regularly contributes whatever money is in his pockets to a homeless man who frequents a Denny’s restaurant in Lakewood. He also donates to panhandlers he sees on freeway offramps while running errands with family members.

“I have to tell him that he can’t help everybody, but he’s always like this,” said Jocqueline Taylor, 34.

De-Vonce originally wanted to provide a Thanksgiving feast for the homeless on skid row, but the family’s lack of a car led his grandmother, Marie, to suggest the senior citizens home as a more practical location.

Marie agreed to cook whatever food De-Vonce bought, and John Marzete, director of True Harmony Faith in Action, a volunteer organization for seniors, volunteered to organize the event.

When the time came to buy the food, De-Vonce emptied the cloth bag he uses as a piggy bank and more than $125 spilled out, his grandmother said.

“I would have had more, but I bought a Mortal Kombat” video game, De-Vonce said.

The money was still enough to provide a banquet room full of seniors with platefuls of food, including seconds and several to-go plates for shut-in residents.

During the meal, the United Tenants Assn. of St. Timothy’s gave De-Vonce a plaque, bringing many of the home’s residents to their feet for an ovation while De-Vonce picked nervously at the fingers of his plastic serving gloves.

“I think he’s a wonderful young man,” said Levi Pearson, 55. “Most kids his age aren’t thinking about doing anything for anyone but themselves.”

Lena Bonds, 64, was near tears as she waited her turn.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen from an 11-year-old,” she said. “Spending a bag of money like that on a bunch of old people ... it’s a blessing.”