With a trunk full of frozen turkeys and a back seat stacked high with bags of russet potatoes, John McGinnis pulls up in front of the CAP Agency on Village Road in Chaska.

The 75-year-old Chanhassen resident, accompanied by a broad smile and dressed in a respectable pair of gray slacks and a red-striped sweater, slowly ambles out of his car to open the trunk. It isn’t long before CAP Agency Volunteer Coordinator Julie Falkenstein appears with a big blue cart to help haul the goodies into the busy food shelf.

“This is great,” Falkenstein says to McGinnis, who continues to smile as he pulls a cardboard box containing the turkeys out.

Inside, those perusing the shelves stocked with canned goods and other non-perishables seem to light up as the cart full of turkeys and potatoes is wheeled in.

Up on the scale the full cart goes, registering in at a whopping 369 pounds – all of which will soon be dispersed to local families in need.

“People love it,” says Falkenstein.

“Really?” asks McGinnis.

“Oh yeah,” Falkenstein replies. “They’re just so happy to know they’re getting a turkey.”

This isn’t McGinnis’s first trip to the CAP Agency. He’s been a regular for the last few weeks and he vows that he’ll keep on visiting.

“Until I run out of money, I’ll be doing it,” he said.

Fort Hood

McGinnis got the idea to help shortly after learning about the shooting at Fort Hood on Nov. 5.

“I said, I gotta do something,” he recalled.

More than 50 years ago, McGinnis was stationed at Fort Hood after being drafted during the Korean War. Though he was only there for a year, the Texas military base left a lasting impression on him.

“You go through basic training and you’re taught to help each other out,” said McGinnis. “You become a family.”

He never lost that sense of belonging with the Fort Hood community, saying “I’m just an older member of the family.”

So after the tragedy occurred, McGinnis set his mind to do something to help others and he decided he’d do so using one of his best assets – his voice.

“I love to sing karaoke,” he explained.

McGinnis hit up the American Legion in Chanhassen, announcing to his fellow veterans that he wanted to do something in honor of the 13 soldiers killed at Fort Hood.

As the Irish tenor belted out songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Danny Boy,” he passed around his legion hat for donations. Wallets quickly opened and when the evening ended, McGinnis found that he had collected more than $500.

“That was beyond my wildest dreams,” he said.

A couple days later, he hit up karaoke again, this time at the High Timber Lodge in the Country Inn & Suites in Chanhassen where he amassed another $400.

With additional donations from other veterans, McGinnis has raised more than $1,000 to date. He’s used that money to purchase turkeys and potatoes from Cub Foods, which he then disperses between PROP in Eden Prairie and the CAP Agency in Chaska.

Inspiration

All told, McGinnis plans to donate some 200 turkeys and 1,000 pounds of potatoes. His thoughtfulness has been a welcome gift at the CAP Agency.

“I’m hoping what you’re doing will encourage others,” said Falkenstein, noting that most of their donations come from area churches, Chaska’s Super Target and Victoria’s Fresh Seasons.

“We give out 20,000 pounds of food a month,” she noted. “That’s 370 households we help.”

But McGinnis has found that he isn’t just helping others. He’s also helping himself.

“I had been in a funk,” he said, explaining that losses in the stock market had recently forced him to go back to work. “I’d been in the process of starting a business all over again and realizing that it was a lot harder to get started.

“Just doing this project has picked me up,” he continued. “I realized, yeah, I can do it again. It gives me the mental drive I needed.”

McGinnis said that collecting money and dispersing food has also made him more aware of the need all around him.

“It is all about awareness,” agreed Falkenstein. “It’s really eye-opening, the need is staggering.”

“Times are tough for everyone,” she continued. “It’s amazing the small amount that will make a difference, whether it’s the change in your pocket or giving up a cup of coffee.”

For McGinnis, there’s no question about it.

“You should help each other,” he said. “What else is there?”

-Mollee Francisco, staff writer