Turkey Drive: Good Samaritan client using resources to build new life

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- Anthony Lupercio is living life one day at a time.

"Today, I'm exactly 143 days clean," said the Santa Maria resident. "It's something. It's a start and it's a change in my life and I like it. I'm changing around."

It's a change the 23-year-old badly needed.

"I was living the same thing over and over and over and over again, constantly," said Lupercio, describing his battle with substance abuse and homelessness. "It was like a rematch and I never got it anywhere ."

With the help of Good Samaritan Shelter in Santa Maria, Lupercio is now turning his life around.

"I have all the resources that I'm taking advantage of in a good way, especially here," said Lupercio. "They help you with mental health. They help you with a lot of stuff. You just need to ask for the help. You want the help, the help is here for you."

Along with his girlfriend Myra and daughter, he's been living at the Family Shelter since June.

"With the help of (Good Samaritan), it brought me out of the streets," said Lupercio. "It brought my family here. They've helped out so much."

Lupercio stressed the positive environment Good Samaritan provides its clients, allowing them to focus on their recovery.

"I'm grateful," said Lupercio. "They have a lot of resources. They help everybody get to where they want to get. You just have to do it yourself. You have to grow up and it's time."

Lupercio is just one of hundreds of Good Samaritan clients that will benefit from the upcoming KCOY Turkey Drive.

Turkeys collected will help provide a traditional Thanksgiving meal for clients living in the various Good Samaritan facilities.

"We are always amazed at the generosity of this community," said Kirsten Cahoon, Good Samaritan Director of Shelter Operations. "It's such a beautiful day and our clients are so grateful that people out in the community, with all the negatively sometimes surrounding homelessness, that they come out and want to support them and that they're really loving on the people that need it in our community."

For Lupercio, he's not only excited about having a Thanksgiving with his family, but also for what lies ahead.

"It feels good to wake up every morning and be clean," Lupercio said. "We do it every morning. We wake up, and we're like, it's another blessed day to be alive and be clean. I feel a whole new future coming my way. Now that I'm clean and I see everything, it makes me want to get up and get a job and do the right thing and become a better man and a better father especially."

The KCOY Turkey Drive is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 21 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There will have several donation drop-off locations, including:

*KCOY studios in Santa Maria
*Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Lompoc
*California Fresh Market in Pismo Beach
*Food Bank Coalition of SLO County in San Luis Obispo
*Vons in San Luis Obispo
*Vons in Atascadero

All donations collected in Northern Santa Barbara County benefit Good Samaritan Shelter, while those collected in San Luis Obispo County go towards the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County.

For more information, visit the KCOY Turkey Drive website