In keeping with the tradition established by Oak Park resident George Annino, the Westlake Junior Women’s Club will usher in the 30-year anniversary of the annual Santa Comes to Agoura and Beyond food drive.

Annino turned the reins for the food drive over to the women’s club this year.

Club members and volunteers from other organizations will separate and bag groceries starting at 9 a.m. Sat., Dec. 5 at the Do-it Center in Agoura Hills. After the food has been organized, it will be delivered to local families who have been selected as recipients through various sources, including churches, temples and clubs.

Food drives are being conducted throughout the community in preparation for the big bagging event. The Boy Scouts of America are collecting food and toys at the Albertsons Market in Westlake Village and Calabasas, and Ralphs Market in Agoura Hills on Kanan Road. Schools throughout the Conejo Valley are also collecting food.

The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, 4232 Las Virgenes Road, is collecting food at its Calabasas headquarters during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

All organizations that have collected food will drop off donations at the Do-it Center on Fri., Nov. 20 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Residents are also welcome to bring food donations to the center that day, said Sherry Lippel, co-chair of the event.

Lippel said that excess food will be delivered to Manna, a food bank in Thousand Oaks, and military families at Ventura County bases will also receive any extra turkeys, Lippel said.

Last year, 120 families were recipients of food gathered from the drive, but more than 400 turkeys were donated.

Santa will make his annual visit to the Do-it Center on Dec. 5. Organizers said families should bring cameras for photo opportunities with Santa. There will not be a professional photographer at the event.

Being grateful

A local school has been taking a novel approach to the Santa cause for five years. Oak View High School, an alternative school in Oak Park, will host its annual Turkey Walk on Wed., Nov. 25. Students and teachers will walk from the school off Conifer Street to Oak Canyon Community Center on Kanan Road and Hollytree Drive.

Lou Tabone, director of alternative education for the Oak Park Unified School District, said that Oak View developed the “alternative experience” to engage students in a service project.

“We used the concept of a turkey run (or jog-athon) at Thanksgiving and changed it to a Turkey Walk,” Tabone said in an e-mail. The students who walk collect money to donate to the food drive.

Residents are invited to join students and staff on the one-mile walk to the pond near the gazebo at the Oak Park Community Center, Tabone said.

Annino started a tradition with the first Turkey Walk that will continue this year. As they walk, students and staff members share the many reasons they have to be thankful, Tabone said.

Tabone said students will be treated to an all-school barbecue upon their return to campus.

The Westlake Junior Women’s Club, established in November 1968, contributed more than $41,000 to a variety of nonprofit organizations, churches, temples and other groups last year.

For further information, e-mail SantaComestoAgoura@gmail.com.