Hennessey may not show up anywhere near Whoville on a map, but its people still have that unmistakable Who-heart. One of the best examples is The Reserve Angels a group built on grit, generosity, and a whole lot of smoke-tinged dedication.
Shelley and Bryon Burch grew up here. Back in 2005, they opened their home, and their hearts, to a grandmother raising her grandchildren. One family turned into two, then twenty, and today the Reserve Angels help between 150 and 200 families every Christmas. Theyโll take any donation, but they run only one major fundraiser: the legendary pork-butt cook.
And let me tell you, itโs a process.
Every October, word goes out: pork butts are on the smoker. Orders roll in. Volunteers many of them off-duty town workers, fire up like a pit crew with a purpose. At 7 a.m., 200 pork butts get dropped into a horse tank to thaw. Foil gets laid out like a factory line. Seasonings go on. Smokers get loaded, checked, unloaded, re-wrapped, and loaded again. Itโs hours of work and more smoke than a Fourth of July grill-off.
But the crew keeps moving like a well-oiled machine because they know what itโs really for. Plenty of folks even buy a pork butt just to donate it to someone who needs a good hot meal. I rode along for a couple of those deliveries, and even in October, Christmas has a way of sneaking in. You see it in the receiverโs eyesโฆ and in the volunteerโs too.
None of this would have happened without an army behind it: the volunteers, the Oklahoma Pork Council, Seaboard Farms, Jeremy Nessel, and D&B Oilfield Services for keeping a smoker alive more years than it probably deserved.
After the smokers cool and the totals are counted, the real hustle begins. Applications come in through December 18. Volunteers gather gifts, wrap them, and yes, assemble trampolines and basketball goals in weather that would make a reindeer quit. One of my favorite memories: a group of Hennessey firefighters fully refurbished a donated toy kitchen. When they watched three little ones see it for the first time, those grown men had tears in their eyes. Tough guys, soft hearts.
Delivery day starts at the Hennessey Care Center, where residents wait in the lobby for the annual visit. They light up the second Santaโs helpers walk in with gifts. And while the presents matter, itโs the handshakes, hugs, and eye contact that hit hardest. Human connection, thatโs the real gift.
Back at the command center, bags cover the floors, organized like a strategic operation. As the afternoon goes on, the piles shrink, the stories grow, and the Christmas spirit gets louder than any Grinch on any hill.
I asked Shelley Burch why they keep doing this, especially in a world full of people determined to snuff out the Christmas spirit. She didnโt hesitate. With tears in her eyes she said, โTell the Grinches to come help. They need the experience of giving too.โ
Anyone whoโs helped the Reserve Angels will tell you: your heart grows whether you planned on it or not. I once watched a highway patrolman kneel down as a child wrapped their arms around him in pure gratitude. Thatโs the stuff that stays with you.
May all our hearts grow a little bigger this season.
Merry Christmas.
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