Guerneville Thanksgiving dinner set to go as planned

Donations flood in after newspaper article
Penelope Rivas, of God’s Grace, Inc., prayed for help and she
got it.
The annual Thanksgiving feast she shops for, cooks for, and
cleans up after, will go on, thanks to a few generous donors who
responded to her plea for donations.
For about a decade now, Rivas has stayed up all night on the eve
of Thanksgiving cooking enough food to feed 400 to 500 people, who
wouldn’t otherwise have a place to go, including the homeless.
The next day she forgoes having dinner with her own family, so
she can work alongside other volunteers serving the holiday
meal.
As of Nov. 18, God’s Grace, Inc. had not received one single
donation, even though, as in year’s past, Rivas took the time to
write and send letters to local businesses seeking financial
support. She also peppered the town with the letter, in an attempt
to get the word out.
And then she opened her mailbox on Saturday (Nov. 19) and found
checks to purchase food for the dinner; Monday, the same thing.
The single largest donation came in after a Sebastopol couple
read an article in Sonoma West Times & News about her plight
and were so moved they wanted to help – in a big way. A man called
Rivas and told her if she could come up with $1,000, he and his
wife would match it, and they did.
Asked where she got her half of the equation, Rivas said: “The
sources were crazy. You would not believe where I got some of this
money. I have checks from San Francisco, from Lafayette, and from
the state of Massachusetts (sent to her from people she doesn’t
even know).”
A Cazadero resident also contacted her after she read the
article.
“She was at her chiropractor’s office; she didn’t even read the
whole article, but she called me and asked me what I needed. I said
I was down $500 and she said, ‘I am going to get it for you,'”
Rivas said.
And she did.
Rivas met the woman Monday morning. When she asked her why she
decided to get involved the woman couldn’t say for sure.
Nonetheless, she called her friends and together they made it
happen.
“My twins also gave me their piggy banks. They heard me say over
and over again how I didn’t have the money and between the two of
them I got $225. I told them they’d never see the money again and
they said, ‘OK,'” Rivas said.
“I don’t have words. I just want to cry,” she said when asked
how she feels about receiving all the donations. “I am just so
incredibly thankful that the homeless and the needy are going to be
fed. … But that’s just so like God; he makes you walk out on
faith and waits until the 11th hour to deliver. He makes you wait
so then you know it’s not from yourself, ‘cause you have already
given up,” Rivas said.
God’s Grace will serve the feast from 1 to 5 p.m., Thanksgiving
Day, at the Guerneville Veterans Memorial Hall, located on First
and Church streets.