Free Holiday Dinners

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8444725

Link to 2010 Thanksgiving Dinner as seen on Ch. 7 ABC , we are on the second half of the video.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=7810462

Volunteers help feed needy in Inland Empire

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- A Thanksgiving tradition gave a lot of people in the Inland Empire a reason to smile Thursday. Hundreds of volunteers helped thousands enjoy the holiday.

All over the Inland Empire hundreds of people put off their Thanksgiving meals to ensure others could have one.

At Central Community Christian Fellowship in Riverside, church members and volunteers pieced together all the trimmings.

For the past 23 years Pastor Eric Denton and his family have organized the Thanksgiving event.

"There are so many seniors citizens without someone to bring them a meal and they are all alone," said Denton. "So we deliver all the Meals On Wheels here in Riverside."

The meals are not made in a single kitchen either. The more than 400 turkeys were prepared in the kitchens of the church members.

"This comes from hundreds of homes. We are feeding thousands of people from hundreds of homes," said Denton.

And with each meal comes a personal handwritten note.

The church has prepared 4,000 meals, but not all of them will be served here. A majority of them will be delivered by volunteers.

For the past seven years, Bob Saenz has packed up his vehicle with dozens of the dinners and delivered them to homes all across Riverside and San Bernardino counties, driving hundreds of miles to make sure someone in need gets a meal.

"Our church policy is even if it is only one, they get two dinners," said Saenz. "We never leave one dinner."

While in Norco, free turkey dinners were available to anyone who stopped in at the Silverado Restaurant.

"This is the biggest community event. It takes numerous volunteers to help make this happen," said organizer Brent Sakamoto.

Claudia Kewer drove in from Corona with a friend to share in the feast and give thanks.

"I am thankful for the people that have given today of themselves, and the work that has gone into this," said Kewer.

This Thanksgiving the efforts of a few are again helping to feed the thousands of others in need of a meal and the company.

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Food for the hungry is on duo's menu

10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, November 18, 2008

By GENE GHIOTTO

The Press-Enterprise

Israel Padilla and Brent Sakamoto plan to feed a small army on Thanksgiving Day.

Padilla, owner of Silverado Burgers and Mexican Food in Norco, will open his Sixth Street restaurant that day to feed the needy, the homeless; police, firefighters, ambulance crews working that day; or just about anyone who is hungry. This is the second year that Padilla will provide the site for the holiday meal.

"I want to make them happy," Padilla said Tuesday.

It is the sixth year that Sakamoto, of Norco, has organized the holiday feast. This year, Sakamoto said, he believes the crowd will surpass that of last year, when about 460 people enjoyed the meal.

"We're planning for at least double, if not more," Sakamoto said.

Sakamoto and Padilla said they believe the sagging economy coupled with the growing number of people losing their jobs and homes are the major reasons they will see more people this year.

"There's a lot of people in need this year," he said.

Sakamoto said the need became evident to him as he drove the area as part of his job servicing fire extinguishers.

"There's an increase in families living at motels," he said.

Those families, Sakamoto said, most likely will not be able to get a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal because most motels do not have kitchens.

Donations and help are coming in from around the community, including from Moms Club Norco, club member Tricia Corp said. Club members will help serve meals that day as a service project for the city.

"This was the only one that we felt was going to help the community," Corp said.

Volunteer servers still are being sought, Padilla said.

Padilla said the meal he plans will include turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables and more. And he is planning a marathon cooking session.

"We'll be cooking all night," Padilla said. "I think we need to cook about 30 turkeys."

Reach Gene Ghiotto at 951-893-2115 or [email protected]

Holiday meal

Free Thanksgiving dinners will be available at Silverado Burgers and Mexican Food.

When: Thanksgiving Day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: 1091 Sixth St., Norco

To volunteer: Show up at the restaurant Thanksgiving Day

Norco man organizes free holiday feast

10:00 PM PST on Monday, November 19, 2007

By ALICIA ROBINSON

The Press-Enterprise

NORCO - For those who get stuck working a holiday shift, cannot scrape together the money for a turkey, or do not have a family to gather around the table, Brent Sakamoto will fulfill their Thanksgiving needs.

On Thursday he will host a free dinner of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and vegetables, pies and desserts, and he expects the turnout to exceed the 400 people who came last year. It is the fifth year for the free dinner and Sakamoto's fourth year as its organizer.

A six-year Norco resident, Sakamoto started as a volunteer at the first dinner and ended up taking over the event. When he used to work as a security manager for grocery stores, he saw people steal turkeys because they had no money for a holiday dinner, he said, and he wanted to help.

This dinner is for them. It is also for people who are alone at the holidays, like Sakamoto was when his fiancée died 12 years ago in a horseback-riding accident.

And it is for people who are simply new in town and do not know where to go, like a woman who came to one of the dinners and said she had planned to go to McDonald's before she heard about the Thanksgiving meal.

This year's dinner is at Silverado Burgers and Mexican Food, the same location as earlier years but now under new management. Silverado owner Israel Padilla said he liked the idea of hosting the dinner because "now, with the fires, a lot of people do not have any house and they want to eat something, like with a family."

Story continues below

Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise

Brent Sakamoto, right, holds a turkey in the kitchen of Silverado Burgers and Mexican Food, where owner Israel Padilla, left, said he liked the idea of hosting the Thanksgiving dinner. "My Thanksgiving day, the best part of it is seeing people happy," Sakamoto says. He also gives a free Christmas dinner at the Lions Club.

Hard Work

Sakamoto also gives a free Christmas dinner at the Lions Club, which will celebrate its fourth year next month.

Julie Roy, a Norco resident who helped at last year's Christmas dinner with her boyfriend, said she is not sure why Sakamoto does it, but she knows he works hard to make the dinners happen.

"He puts a lot of effort into it and who knows how much money out of his own pocket," she said.

A lot of Sakamoto's work is handing out fliers, collecting donations from area businesses and finding volunteers. He does supplement the donated food with whatever else is needed, and he helps a little with the cooking, he said.

The Sixth Street restaurant where the dinner is traditionally held has changed owners several times, so securing a location has been one of Sakamoto's biggest challenges, he said. "It always happens. It's almost a miracle, but we always have enough food."

Sakamoto sees even more guests in the dinner's future. Faced with the possibility of feeding hundreds more, he says bring 'em on.

Helping

The free holiday dinner seems to feed more than just stomachs for some. Roy said volunteering was one of the most rewarding things she has done.

"At first we were like, 'Why are we even here, we don't know anybody,' but once we got started it was warm, it was positive," she said. "We got more out of it than the people getting the free meal."

Turkey and stuffing are Sakamoto's favorite holiday foods, he said, but there is something he likes better.

"My Thanksgiving day, the best part of it is seeing people happy," he said.

TOWNSFOLK

Name: Brent Sakamoto

Age: 35

Residence: Norco

Interests: Feeding people at the holidays. Since 2004, Sakamoto has organized and hosted free dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas not only for the needy, but for anyone who has nowhere else to go or no family to share holidays with.

Quote: "Brent's wonderful. I can't imagine how many hundreds of hours he puts in on this," said Norco resident Julie Roy, a volunteer at the 2006 Christmas dinner.

Link to 2010 Thanksgiving Dinner as seen on Ch. 7 ABC , we are on the second half of the video.

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=7810462