Hollister
– Organizers are asking local residents to step up and save an
annual holiday tradition in trouble this year.
Hollister – Organizers are asking local residents to step up and save an annual holiday tradition in trouble this year.
While friends and family plan on keeping Marley Holte’s holiday dinners alive for the needy, lonely and housebound, they have yet to receive so much as one turkey to help feed the masses who enjoy the meal every year.
“I really haven’t got any phone calls,” said Pat Richardson, a member of the organizing committee. “It’s really depressing.”
The dinners were born 20 years ago when Holte and his wife decided to put on a feast for the community’s needy instead of buying each other Christmas presents. Though Holte passed away this September, family and friends who helped him organize the events for two decades vowed to carry on the tradition in his honor, renaming them the Holte Memorial Dinners.
It’s awfully hard to have a Thanksgiving dinner, however, without turkeys, which is exactly the situation organizers find themselves in.
“We even called (Assemblyman) Simon Salinas’ office; they usually give us turkeys every year,” Richardson said. “And they just forgot about us.”
Organizers suppose most people assumed the dinners would end with Holte’s passing, despite their best efforts to get the word out.
“That’s the only reason we can think of, at least,” Richardson said.
Each year roughly 100 volunteers feed more than 500 people on Thanksgiving and Christmas out of the Sacred Heart gym (the event hit an all-time high in 1998 when more than 1,000 people came to eat), and operations have expanded to drive meals to housebound individuals who can’t make it out to be with family or friends. Organizers had already planned on scaling down the event even before their donation troubles became apparent, believing that without Holte fewer people would choose to spend their holiday at the dinner.
“We’re expecting about 150 people, but that’s still a lot to feed at once,” Richardson said.
Organizers are hoping to collect 20 turkeys, but that isn’t all they need – the dinner includes stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries and other Thanksgiving staples, and of course pumpkin pie and coffee. They also need money to purchase goods like paper plates and napkins and, obviously, volunteers to help prepare and serve the meal.
“Right now we need all the help we can get,” Richardson said.
Volunteers hope the community won’t forget about their special event, especially given the spirit of the season.
“There’s a need in this community for these dinners,” Richardson said. “It’s there for the homeless with nowhere to go, for seniors who are alone, for everybody. It’s an important thing.”
To donate goods or money call 637-0566 or drop off any items at 470 Tres Pinos Road.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
ds****@fr***********.com
.
