How a 911 call gave San Jose father purpose to bake, deliver pies to fire stations on Thanksgiving
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A sweet tribute in the South Bay to the first responders who keep us safe.
Every year, San Jose father Eric Harvey bakes pies for local first responders.
It all stemmed from a 911 call he made in 2021 when his wife went into labor at home. Within minutes, Station 18's on-duty team was in his bathroom helping deliver the couple's youngest son, Tony.
"So it's a crew and you're talking, what 40 square feet there's like seven people in there, I remember at one point somebody yells, "where's dad at? Come over here and cut the cord," I was like hah - with a field scalpel," Harvey said.
That moment inspired Harvey to turn his gratitude into a holiday tradition. That year, Harvey delivered two pies to Station 18 on Thanksgiving. The next year, he upped to four pies to two stations and each year he bakes and delivers more.
"I did six years in active duty Navy, four years on a carrier, so I've been deployed for many holidays, and so I know that these folks are away from their home, just waiting for a call incase anybody needs them, and that's all part of it so as far as what the feeling is - it's simply giving back," Harvey said.
This year, Harvey is baking 28 pies for 14 fire stations in South San Jose. He launched a GoFundMe to help with supplies which included 35 pounds of pumpkin, $120 worth of pie shells and 14 pounds of sugar.
He plans to reach out to Beckmann's Bakery based in Santa Cruz. Next year, his goal is to deliver 100 pies.
Harvey hopes his three sons will have appreciation for first responders - and that those first responders will appreciate a holiday treat.
"What's going to be the impact of smiles, I mean it's not even that it's going to be after the fact I like to hear that it was edible and that they were like - hey that was actually a tasty pie," Harvey said.
Harvey plans to deliver his pies starting at 7 a.m. Thanksgiving morning. He hopes his full route will take him 3 -4 hours.
