Cathy Perfect
Kern Valley Sun

Saturday, Nov. 22, was another stellar example of Kern Valley residents coming together for the betterment of their community. The morning began in Circle Park in Kernville with volunteers collecting nonperishable food items, household necessities such as diapers and formula, gently used clothing, and a fair share of monetary donations for the second Caravan for Compassion.

Organizers were amazed with their neighbors’ outpouring of support and generosity. At the Wofford Heights Post Office, just the caravan’s second stop of the morning, Al Steuart remarked, “We’ve collected more already than we did for the entire caravan last time.”

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Donations came in many forms. Jill Thurman, of Archie’s Hardware in Kernville, donated the paint for truck signs and the bungee cords that secured them to the vehicles. Kate DeVries, also of Kernville, came up with the idea to record the caravan’s activities and post them on YouTube, where they have been viewed by hundreds and picked up by national news services such as CNN.

With their day’s mission complete, organizers returned to the Senior Center in Lake Isabella and began the sorting process. “We want everything to be divided equally among God’s Storehouse in Weldon, the Food Pantry in Lake Isabella and the Salvation Army,” said Dr. Holly Spohn-Gross, who, with Steuart, spearheaded the caravan.

By 2:30 that afternoon, the line began to form outside the Senior Center as ticket-holding residents awaited the Salvation Army’s annual free Thanksgiving feast.

Tables were decked out with handmade turkey decorations created by Christine Pierce’s fifth grade class at Woodrow Wallace School. “We’ve never had decorations this great before,” said Bill Blanton. “This is over the top! The class did a great job.”

Kitchen staff headed by Bob Burkhart and line servers led by Belinda Hutchinson “provided the miracle of preparing the food in just three hours and serving 280 people...in just two hours,” said Blanton. “This is a record for us,” Blanton remarked. “We served more than double the number of people we have in previous years.”

Also on hand was Salvation Army Major Wayne Froderberg and his wife, Trish, who had traveled from San Francisco. “We’ve been hearing about this dinner for a number of days. We just wanted to come and say thank you for all you’re doing,” Major Froderberg said.

Vickie Stacy brought ECHO students Katherine Stoddard, Chris Reese, and Amanda Yarborough to serve beverages to guests. “We just came from Highland Chapel’s dinner and hurried down here (to the Senior Center); we’re doing double duty today,” she said.

Citizens Service Units Patrol delivered 21 meals to shut-ins around the valley, Blanton said. He also gave thanks to Vons market and all those who helped by cooking turkeys or donating pies and more, as well as to Rudy of Producers Dairy, Hungry Rancher, The Dam Korner and Los Palomas and Javier, for cooking additional food. Local musician Ray Beason provided Christmas music and Camp Owen boys did a spectacular job of cleaning up, Blanton said.