Her Greatest Gift Is Giving

The notion of ketchup soup got Reiko Pearson started on her mission.

Pearson caught a television commercial while living in South Carolina several years ago that aimed to highlight the plight of the poor. The spot showed a mother and her two children scrounging for ketchup packets and emptying them into a pot to eke out some simple sustenance.

"That was it for me," Pearson recalled. "I got on my knees and said, 'God, show me what to do to keep one kid from eating ketchup soup.'"

Pearson got to work, collecting and handing out food to the underprivileged.

The New York City native moved to Brooksville four years ago - different city, same goal. For the last three holiday seasons, Pearson, 49, has cooked up big feasts in her cozy kitchen and dished them out to the needy. Last year, some 75 people came to her Thanksgiving dinner.

This year, she is focusing efforts to Christmas and is adding toys and clothes to the offering.

Pearson and a host of volunteers will dole out dinner and gift packages starting at 3 p.m. today at her apartment complex, Oak Park Apartments, 460 Hale Ave. Recipients should be truly needy, but Pearson and her fellow volunteers will operate on the honor system.

Pearson expects a crowd. She said she's already gotten dozens of calls after a small item appeared in Hernando Today, more so than in the last few years, she said.

"It's sad. There are so many more people in need out there," she said.

On Tuesday, Pearson and three of her nieces tiptoed around piles of donated clothes and toys, picking up items and bundling them together with shiny ribbon.

A boy's shorts and T-shirts went with a video game; a Barbie doll got tied to a dress.

Meanwhile, potatoes bound for mayonnaise boiled in a big pot on the stove. Pearson also will serve turkey, black-eyed peas, yams and green beans.

Pearson, a home health care assistant, is getting help from her classmates at Withlacoochee Technical Institute's Patient Care Assistance department.

She admits she wasn't always motivated to help others.

In fact, for a time in the 1980s while living in New York, she drank too much and lost her way. Then, she said, she realized the example she was setting for her four younger siblings. And she found God.

"I'm just a girl who prayed, and God told me what to do and I'm doing it," Pearson said. "I'm just a humble servant."

Despite her rough patch, "She's always been a giver," said Theresa Scott, Pearson's cousin and owner of All About Kids Day Care center in Spring Hill. The day care has donated clothes and toys for the effort. "She's just doing what she does best."

Pearson, who is single and never has had children, lost her mother in September. Pearl Pearson lived with her daughter, and the two were close.

Pearson admits her mourning almost made her decide to forgo a giving campaign this year, opting instead to "close the door and stay inside and cry all day."

But the thought of her mother looking down on her helps keep her motivated. Pearl always said how proud she was of her daughter.

"No matter how old you get, you love to hear that," she said

An encounter in the Brooksville Wal-Mart recently reaffirmed her motivation.

A woman told Pearson about how her grandchildren had apologized "for being naughty this year." When the grandmother asked the kids why, they replied: "Because Santa didn't bring us any presents this year."

"I had to walk away from her to hold back the tears," Pearson said.

Pearson will accept donations as late as today. Those with items are welcome to come to the apartment complex. For information, call Pearson at 397-3613.