In the spirit of Christmas, there was a lot of giving going on today at the Heather Grove assisted-living center for veterans near West 33rd Avenue and Federal Boulevard.
Fred Harris, the facility’s chef, and his “crew” — including Heather Grove staffers, residents and volunteers — had been food-prepping and cooking for a week to get ready for today’s free Christmas Day dinner for the homeless and others in need.
It was all part of Heather Grove owner and area physician Hai Bui’s ongoing effort to give back to a country that took him in 30 years ago as a young refugee from Vietnam.
Today, the Heather Grove team planned to feed turkey, homemade cornbread dressing, made-from-scratch mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and pie and cake to between 600 and 1,000 people.
The facility’s van took 300 meals out this morning to Samaritan House, motels on Colfax Avenue and to homeless people living in the Sloan’s Lake area, Harris said.
At midday, after serving up slicings from the 45 turkeys he prepared, Harris added, “We’ve still got more food and we want more people to come. This is the best I’ve felt in a long time. It’s just a good feeling.”
“We’re going to stay open until the food is gone. That’s our mission,” said Jan Steckline, resident services administrator for Heather Grove, which is home to about 45 veterans ranging in age from 39 to 92.
The facility’s residents have physical and mental health needs, but a goal of the Christmas Dinner was to involve the vets again in service to the community, Steckline said. “We wanted them to feel that part of our home was going to be open to others in need. And they opened their hearts.”
Kate Bouchard, a nurse practitioner for Dr. Bui’s internal medicine practice, had come to volunteer at the the community dinner with her husband Todd Trower and their children.
They took a break from the kitchen work to visit the room of the facility’s oldest vet, 92-year-old Frank DeHerrera, who served in Germany during World War II, and wish him a Merry Christmas.
Call Heather Grove at 303-477-4262 to see if the center, at 3289 Grove St. in Denver, is still serving.
