Therese grew up in San Jose, went to Santa Clara University, and moved to New Jersey in her 20s for a job with AT&T. She found her way back to California and started coming to Pacific Grove on weekends with a girlfriend who was looking for a “cute little cottage.”
They would ride their bikes up and down every street in Pacific Grove making note of their favorite streets and favorite houses. Therese knew then, she wanted to live in Pacific Grove someday.
Eventually, her friend found a house on Cedar, and Therese and her husband Phil would spend several weekends a year with them exploring the Monterey Bay Area. Years later, their friends moved across town to a home on the PG Muni Golf Course, and when the house next door went up for sale, the Crispells bought it.
Their children were young at that time, so they rented it to military families for 12 years before finally moving in March of 2020 just when COVID-19 was breaking out.
Recently retired, Therese was looking for volunteer work that would give her the opportunity to interact with the community.
One of her friends had recently started volunteering at MOWMP and encouraged her to give it a try. Therese started working one day a week serving lunch and prepping food in the kitchen, then joined the baking team on Tuesday afternoons. “I love the variety of the tasks, the camaraderie of the team, the friendly work environment, and the ‘appreciative’ customers.”
The other fun part of Therese and Phil’s life they owe to the people who rented their home. They had two young boys who were budding entrepreneurs, and they established a golf ball kiosk behind their fence and sold the golf balls that landed in their yard each week.
When they moved in, the golf course was closed due to COVID-19, but when it re-opened, golfers were happy and came in droves – but their swings were really bad!
This resulted in an abundance of errant golf balls missing the fairway and landing in their yard and their neighbors’ yards!
Therese’s husband had the idea of re-building the golf ball kiosk and donating all of the proceeds to Meals on Wheels. Neighbors on both sides give them their golf balls, Phil cleans them and organizes them by brand and color, and the wonderful golfers often throw extra donations in the jar!
In the three years since Phil started selling golf balls, they have donated $1,700 to MOWMP!
This is one of the great perks of having our center near the golf course as long as they miss our windows! We are grateful for Therese’s time and energy as well as Phil’s entrepreneurial spirit and generosity!
