Early Thanksgiving Dinner from Grey Bears

We received our early Thanksgiving dinner from Grey Bears on November 8, 2025.

Last Saturday, Paul and I rushed through our breakfast, and set off to Grey Bears' headquarters to pick our holiday dinner. Seeing a long line of cars ahead of us, we knew that we were definitely not the first in line. Guided by sets of volunteers in visible vests, our Tesla crawled forward, turned around the dead end to drive past the Bears Electronic Recycling Center. Such a busy traffic scene was a sharp contrast to the quiet Saturday morning exactly a week before. 

We finally inched our way into the Bears yard. To make more room in a tight yard space, all vehicles were ordered to make four or five lanes, so as to be called upon to receive our dinners at the kitchen gate. Like many years before, everything was well organized with proper signs and cheerful volunteers tasked with specific duties. Unlike the past tradition, one could order online up to six dinners without having to specify the name for each receiver. One name was ample. The new system seemed to be more streamlined. Once one's name was checked by one volunteer, a colorful shopping bag or more would be waiting at the gate, depending on the quantity of dinners. 

Colorful bags turned out to be donations from Santa Cruz New Leaf Community Markets. It is another streamlined item for Grey Bears this year. Instead of clumsy handlings when several dinners were involved, roomy New Leaf bags can hold two or three dinners easily.

By the time we left the yard, we saw the line of waiting cars not only not diminishing, but growing to the corner of Chanticleer and Soquel Avenues. Curiously, no one seemed to be in an anxious hurry, but hopeful. Perhaps, they shared the same feeling as we did: we were indeed fortunate to live in such a supportive and generous community. Politics could swing left or right, but our local community was something we could always rely upon. Grey Bear's early Thanksgiving Dinner is one living example.