Hundreds get a free meal in Guerneville thanks to volunteers

Michael Collins took a break from his traditional Christmas festivities on Thursday, and instead of eating family dinner, watching reruns of the holiday classic “A Christmas Story” and opening gifts, the Guerneville resident spent his afternoon volunteering.

“Corn? Green beans?” Collins said as he dished out piping hot food to dozens of people who lined up for Guerneville’s annual Community Holiday Dinner, hosted by the Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The nonprofit group, famous for its drag queens dressed as nuns, took over organizing the Christmas dinner 13 years ago from the Guerneville Chamber of Commerce. This year, organizers said they expected to serve more than 500 people - a slight increase from last year.

“It really takes a community to put this together,” said Mary Mount, who goes by her drag name Sister Claire Voyante.

The dinner, made possible with the help of 40 volunteers and hundreds of donated food items and gifts, doubles as a holiday toy drive. Volunteers and event organizers said this year they collected two truckloads of toys and 55 hams and turkeys, plus all the holiday dinner fixings.

“We feed everybody - some people are homeless, some don’t have any family, and some who don’t have anywhere to go,” said Jim Longacre, who is known as Sister Sparkle Plenty. “There’s so many people who, for them, Christmas is just another cold day, so it’s nice to give them some happiness and a hot meal.”

Kim Cline and Karen Lukas said the dinner gave the friends an opportunity to spend the holiday together and to talk with others in their community. The two have participated in the festivity for the past three years.

“I look forward to this every year,” said Cline, who lives in Rio Nido. “I don’t have any family, so this makes me feel more like a part of a family.”

Cline and Lukas were finishing their turkey in the packed room at the Guerneville Veterans Memorial Hall on Thursday as dozens of people were still filing through the door. Nearby, at another table, a man slumped into his chair with his second helping of food.

“I love this,” said Richard, who declined to give his last name but said he was homeless and sleeps outside. “It’s come as you are. It feels good to be accepted.”

Outside, a crowd of children gathered around an oversized delivery truck brimming with toys. East Bay resident Sandy Reinhardt organizes the toy drive through her nonprofit, Mama’s Family.

She bolstered the toy drive when she took over 14 years ago. The year prior, there was nothing to offer kids except a few stuffed animals.

“For most of the toy drives we do, we don’t get to see the kids’ reactions,” Reinhardt said. “This is so wonderful and overwhelming for us.”

Twelve-year-old Jesus Garcia’s face lit up when he got his Christmas gift - a blue mountain bike. Event organizers said they were elated when their donations this year included a mountain bike, since the bike Garcia’s mother gave him last year for Christmas was stolen.

“I started crying,” Mount said. “It was so wonderful.”

Garcia said the gift made his Christmas.

“I feel happy because now I can go do stuff,” he said. “And it’s blue, my favorite color.”

Others agreed that the event helped make Christmas a joyous day for them.

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” said Peter Parks, 64, who has been sleeping at Veterans Memorial Hall, which is converted into a homeless shelter during cold and wet winter months. “I feel like I’m going to have a really good year next year.”

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@ahartreports.