23rd Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for Seniors a Great Success!

Thanksgiving this year was once again a festive occasion at the Sagebrush Cantina for hundreds of local senior citizens.  As in past years, all the turkeys were collected and donated by Kathleen Sterling, publisher of the Valley Vantage Group of Newspapers, and traditional pumpkin and fruit pies were generously donated by St. Bernardine's Church and School while, in addition to offering the use of its amazing establishment, the Sagebrush Cantina rounded out the meal with delicious holiday side dishes. The overwhelming generosity of these sponsors to provide the traditional holiday dinner essentials was matched only by the willingness of over 150 community volunteers to contribute their time and energy to do the hard work required to make this event possible.

A very special thanks also goes to L.A. City Councilman Mitch Englander who, along with L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine donated bus transportation from several area Senior Centers, providing transportation for over 200 senior citizens. Silverado Senior Living provided an accessible shuttle to transport those with special requirements, and many other Seniors arrived by car.  Councilman Englander, and his family, were also on hand to work alongside the other community volunteers greeting the Senior Citizens and serving meals. 

Making the day particularly special for the honored guests, were the scores of students who helped in every way possible.  While students from the newly formed Canoga Park High School Interact Club  comprised the largest group, a good number of students also came from the Calabasas High Interact Club, Viewpoint High School and El Camino Real High School, with others from Harvard Westlake School, Nobel Middle School and other area schools.   The opportunity to interact with the students has been consistently noted as a high point by many of the Seniors.

Without a doubt the Thanksgiving Dinner for Seniors was a great success in benefiting not only the Senior Citizens, but was also an enriching experience for all the volunteers and sponsors who participated.