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Dozens of people fresh from a night’s rest there sat at the tables and quietly feasted on a hot breakfast.
Some of the clients chatted about the day ahead while others took breaks outside the shelter on Golden Valley Road to smoke an early morning cigarette in the cool air.
Saturdays are a rare treat for the homeless people who frequent the Santa Clarita Valley’s only shelter.
And it’s thanks to about 10 youngsters and adults, who were busy cooking a menu of breakfast items: potatoes, eggs and waffles.
While other kids might spend their Saturday mornings fast asleep or parked in front of the television to watch cartoons in their pajamas, kids in “The Breakfast Club” donate their time to cook up the only hot breakfast some of the shelter’s clients get all week.
The effort began 13 years ago with Frank Schiro, 48, of Stevenson Ranch and expanded as his family and friends began volunteering with their kids, some as young as 9-years-old.
About 10 kids and adults regularly take part in the effort every Saturday the shelter is open from Dec. 1 to March 15. Schiro buys all the groceries and plans the menu on Fridays. Each Saturday, they haul in griddles, bowls and ingredients and set up in the small kitchen.
Dragging a kid out of a warm bed may seem like a tough task for any parent, but the volunteers said they enjoy getting up.
“I like cooking the food,” said 13-year-old Tiffany Schiro, Frank’s daughter. “I really like seeing their faces. It’s nice to see they like it.”
Tiffany worries that no one would cook a hot breakfast for the clients if it weren’t for the club.
Kayla Kimball, 12, of Canyon Country enjoys the chance to make a difference in the community. Until she began volunteering three years ago, Kimball didn’t even know there was a homeless shelter.
“I’ve learned to be more thankful for things,” she said.
Clients spend most of their time outside of the shelter, which closes during the day by about 7 p.m. or 8 a.m. The shelter is able to serve breakfast to clients every day, which usually consists of cold cereal.
On Saturday, however, The Breakfast Club shows up.
“We like to give them a full plate of a good variety,” said 54-year-old Jack Worth, who has volunteered at the shelter for about five years.
Volunteers cook for up to 50 clients every week and provide various juices. Often, they’ll wrap up overflowing plates of leftovers for clients to eat until the shelter reopens again in the evening.
Volunteer Jennifer Calderon of Newhall recalled a Mother’s Day one year when a former shelter client bought her and her family a Mother’s Day meal as a way of thanking her for the breakfasts.
“(Clients) see and realize and appreciate that people here care,” said Tim Davis, the shelter’s executive director.
