Thanksgiving ‘race’

Shirlee and Harry Wilson have spent their Thanksgivings for almost a decade delivering holiday meals. The Wilsons volunteer not only their turkey day, but have spent their Christmas, Fourth of July, Easter and Valentine’s Day holidays delivering meals to the frail and elderly who can’t shop or cook, or are alone on the holidays.

“We just felt it’s time to do something like that,” Shirlee Wilson said.

The Wilsons are two of many volunteers who take time out of their holidays for others. Volunteers deliver meals cooked by the Huntington Beach Hospital to 70 residents on Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas. The service used to do Fourth of July and Valentine’s Day, but had to cut back, said Randy Pesqueira, executive director of Senior Services.

“We really try to take care of our frail and elderly seniors,” he said.

The program is run through the Michael E. Rodgers Seniors’ Center and sponsored by the Huntington Beach Council on Aging and Handy Crafters, a group of seniors who get together and knit.

The program has been providing seniors with holiday meals for about 20 years, Pesqueira said.

Jean Brookheart has been having meals delivered to her for a couple years now. Brookheart said she might go to her church’s Thanksgiving potluck, but likes to have the meals as a backup.

“In case that doesn’t work out, it’s nice to know I have something else,” Brookheart said. “It’s a wonderful service.”

Brookheart said she does the same for Christmas. Without her husband or children, she’s stopped cooking, having “been there, done that.”

“Huntington Beach is absolutely marvelous for seniors,” she said.

The first time the Wilsons delivered meals, Shirlee Wilson said it was like being on “The Amazing Race” — with a list of destinations and a map, the duo had to figure out how to get to each place. Now they’ve settled into a routine of Shirlee Wilson navigating and her husband driving.

The Wilsons got involved after Harry Wilson had a spinal injury and couldn’t lift heavy items at the soup kitchen they volunteered at in Costa Mesa.

Trying to find another avenue to help in, the two found the senior center.

Shirlee Wilson, 68, said she and her husband, 70, might someday be at the receiving end of the service.

“It really is such a wonderful [program],” she said.

After several years of delivery, she said, they know some of the recipients and get to catch up every year.

“It’s nice seeing some of these people again,” she said. “They’re all pretty much extremely grateful. You hear ‘thank you, thank you’ so many times.”