SENIORS THANKFUL FOR GREY BEARS’ GENEROSITY
SANTACRUZ >> Cars filled with Santa Cruz County’s seniors filed in an out of the Grey Bears parking lot on Chanticleer Avenue to pick up a holiday dinner complete with entire pies. On any normal year, Grey Bears would host a holiday dinner at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium downtown, but 2020 isn’t a normal year. Instead, Grey Bears prepared a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in advance to hand out to guests via drive-thru on Sunday.
“We’ve been going about 30 years, as were local residents,” Robert Adams said of the holiday dinner. “We’re looking at least a year to two years of pandemic. We’re going to have to adapt. We are going to have to come up with alternative ways to deal with this.”
Many residents were grateful for Grey Bears’ generosity during the holidays. One of those residents was Irene Dietze, who was once a volunteer at Grey Bears and is now one of the community members they serve.
“It’s wonderful. Grey Bears always takes care of senior citizens. They are really a blessing for all of us,” Dietze said. “It makes me feel wonderful that they not only care for you when you help them, they also care for you when you cannot help them.”
Volunteers are a large part of what keeps Grey Bears running. Executive Chef Matt Hereford referred to them as the “engine behind Grey Bears.” This year, it got a plethora of volunteers that believe in what Grey Bears does and wanted to help feed the county’s senior citizens.
“It’s just what Santa Cruz County is. We’re just super grateful they’re here,” Executive Director Tim Brattan said. “Just the outpouring of support. It’s part of our community.”
Among the volunteers was Boy Scouts of America Troop 618. Scouts checked in each car and helped facilitate the delivery of their meal into each car.
“It’s a chance for the (scouts) to learn the value of cheerful service. It’s one of the Boy Scout values,” Ciro Milazzo, one of the troop leaders, said. “Within our group, we’re just focused on teaching the (scouts) the core values. That core value of service to the community is really only taught by doing.”
Boy Scouts of America has been working with Grey Bears for more than two decades. They usually help with the clean-up of the holiday dinner at the Civic Auditorium, but with the in-person dinner not happening this year, they had to find another way to help out.
Boy Scouts of America weren’t the only volunteers. Other volunteers not affiliated with specific groups helped package the meals and distribute them to guests. One volunteer even showed up the day of as a walk-in volunteer.
“I was unaware that they were doing this, and I read about it in the paper. I had a bunch of napkins and I just came down to donate the napkins and me and my grandson decided to stay and help,” Pamela Simmons said. “It’s such a heartwarming thing that they’re doing.”
Simmons helped direct cars where to go when they arrived at the Grey Bears parking lot. She also helped set up the row of red ribbons that led cars to the pick-up stations. Brattan was pleased with the way the drive-thru holiday dinner went. Grey Bears and its volunteers were serving more than 40 cars every 10 minutes, according to him. He credits part of the success to the volunteer support Grey Bears received.
“We weren’t sure, but we’ve got so much help and a great crew of volunteers. It’s been perfect,” Brattan said. “Under the circumstances, this is a cause for celebration.”