BOUNTIFUL THANKSGIVING; MOMS, DEPUTIES PROVIDE FEAST.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

Denise Schumann hoisted a laundry basket laden with a do-it-yourself Thanksgiving feast from the back of her Jeep and into a sheriff's search and rescue vehicle.

Seventeen other moms, aided Tuesday by a crew of Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies from the Santa Clarita Valley, followed suit, shifting the fruits of their labor to squad cars and sheriff's SUVs for distribution to the needy.

``Everybody in the club did something,'' said Schumann, a member of one of the three local MOMS Club chapters taking part in an effort to provide holiday feasts for local low-income families.

This is the third year MOMS - Moms Offering Moms Support - have come through with food baskets, each holding a frozen turkey, canned ham, vegetables, cranberry sauce, gravy mixes, pies and other goodies, said Deputy Tom Drake, who coordinated the delivery.

Over the next three hours, the deputies delivered baskets to families across the Santa Clarita Valley who are faced with tough times.

Sheriff's officials say it's heartwarming to play middleman in the 3-year-old community Thanksgiving tradition.

``The first year, one of the clubs called and asked if we would help with this, and the next year, another chapter called. Now there are three,'' Drake said. ``It's unbelievable what they put in these baskets.''

The mothers were accompanied by a gaggle of toddlers wearing stick-on replicas of sheriff's badges and listening in awe as deputies thanked them.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Sgt. Bruce Sonnenblick and Deputy Artie Thompson load donated food for the needy, provided by local chapters of the MOMS Club, into squad cars. At right, Thompson adds more of the fixin's.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News