Menifee Christmas Dinner Expands; More Volunteers Needed

Jimmy Canales addresses a crowd of about 40 volunteers Thursday night in the first planning meeting for the 2013 Menifee Christmas Dinner.

By David Baker

Standing at around 6 feet tall in a T-shirt, jeans, and work boots, Jimmy Canales has an "every man" quality about him. He seems like someone you would envision having over for a family barbecue or to watch the big game.

To those who know him, however, he is a powerful public speaker and a leader within his community.

Canales welcomed about 40 volunteers Thursday night to the first planning meeting for the fourth annual Menifee Christmas Dinner. The event has grown quickly over the past three years, but the core goals of the event are still the same: To bring Christmas to those who cannot do so for themselves, and teach our own children the true meaning of Christmas in the process.

This takes the form of dinners for the hungry, toys for children who would otherwise go without, and companionship for the lonely, all provided by volunteers on Christmas Day at the Marion Ashley Center.

Canales is the driving force behind the Menifee Christmas Dinner, but the event is a success because of the involvement of many volunteers in the community. Thursday's meeting was the first opportunity for them to get together and discuss plans for this year's event.

The first 20 minutes of the meeting were rather informal, with introductions for the newer volunteers and the opportunity for previous volunteers to tell some of the stories and experiences which meant something to them in past Christmas Dinners.

The first volunteer to speak was Kathey Cox, who told the story of a mother who met the volunteers around the corner from her home, so she could pretend the gifts were from Santa.

The next speaker, Kelly Carroll (right), nearly began crying as she related the story of a mother on disability due to a back injury. The husband, a veteran, was delivering pizzas in the family’s only car to make ends meet.

"We don’t even care about buying presents for ourselves anymore," she said. "This is an amazing project."

Together, Canales and a volunteer named Thomas, a U.S. Postal worker, told the story of getting three letters to Santa from the same house. They asked for a few presents from Santa, but what they really wanted most of all was a job for their dad, who had just been laid off. Thomas and his wife are still friends with the family a year later and they visit weekly.

The Menifee Christmas Dinner began oddly enough as a gripe on Facebook. Two weeks and three days before Christmas of 2010, one of the eventual volunteers, a woman named Leslie, lamented that she wished she could teach her kids that there was more to Christmas than getting gifts. Some friends commented that she should take her kids to soup kitchens in Orange County or Los Angeles.

Canales, a volunteer youth sports coach, read the comments and reflected on the fact that he had just helped a mother from his team move from the house she could not afford to keep, into a trailer in Winchester. He thought about all the other families that were in similar situations, or worse. It was then that he realized the need for a local program.

He called Leslie, who agreed to help him do something about it. He called Valley Wide Recreation Manager Vince Valdez, who told him that if he could organize it, Valdez would allow Canales to use the Wheatfield Park facility. Canales and his friends sprang into action, arranging food and toy drives to provide a Christmas dinner and presents to approximately 300 families at the clubhouse, plus 40 delivered in-home that first year.

Last year, they were able to expand the program to include a sleeping bag drive for the homeless, as well as delivering 360 meals to the homeless. They could have delivered more, had the supplies been available. This year, the goal is to have over 500 meals delivered.

In addition to serving the homeless, this year Canales (left) plans to add two new services. The first is to increase the amount of meals delivered to senior citizens who may be confined to their homes. The second is the Adopt-A-Family program. The goal is to find 50 families in need and pair each family with two volunteer families that can provide a full Christmas for them. Menifee Christmas Dinner will provide the food, and the two volunteer families will provide the rest.

If you know of a family in need, please send an email to menifeechristmasdinner@yahoo.com, visit their Facebook page, or call Jimmy Canales at 951-852-1668. If you don’t know anyone in need but would like to volunteer for one of the food or toy drives listed below or help in other ways, contact the organizers. They are currently seeking youth volunteers.

Leftover toys will be donated to Loma Linda Children’s Hospital in the memory of Allison Faith Ross, a local child who succumbed to meningitis; and to an as-yet undetermined shelter or charity for battered women or children in memory of Terry Smith Jr., whose death, according to Canales, "brought Menifee residents together in a way no one else could."

To begin the fundraising campaign, Canales is putting together an Over The Line tournament (see attached flier) on Saturday, Nov. 23. Men and women 18 and up are welcome to join the festivities and support the cause.

Toy Drives (Haun Road turnout across from Countryside Marketplace):
Dec. 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 24

Food Drives (Ralphs on Antelope Road / Albertsons on Scott Road):
Dec. 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, and 19