Aaron and Dolores Gonzales, a couple from North San Ysidro, were driving the winding dirt road from the village when their truck was flagged down.

They stopped long enough for their neighbor Roy Sandoval and land grant president Oliver Perea to hand them a big box loaded with a turkey, all the trimmings and pumpkin pie. "This is from Val Kilmer," one of the men told the couple.

"Thank you so much," replied Gonzales, looking a little stunned, before driving off.

The box of food was one of three or four dozen the actor's staff put together for families in need over Thanksgiving. Perea, Sandoval and the Pecos Valley Medical Center helped identify the families who could most use the food.

On Tuesday, Perea, Sandoval and Kilmer's staff loaded the food boxes into a couple of big trucks and headed out to deliver them around the nearby villages.

This was at least the ninth year Kilmer has bought the food baskets for families, according to his ranch manager, Pam Sawyer. When he's home at the ranch, he and his two children like to help with the deliveries, she said. This year, Kilmer was out of town.

"He likes taking the food baskets to families, sitting with them and visiting," said Sawyer, who managed the Pink Adobe Restaurant in Santa Fe for 20 years before working for Kilmer.

As she drove the ranch's Prius behind the delivery trucks, she talked about Kilmer, how much he loved his Pecos River Ranch and the small ways, like Thanksgiving dinners, he tries to help the communities nearby. Asked about Kilmer's brief talk of running for governor, Sawyer said she thought he had decided he could do more by directly helping communities than in politics.

Kilmer started delivering Thanksgiving boxes soon after he arrived in the valley. Every year, the number of boxes has grown as the staff hears of more families in need, Sawyer said.

She said Perea and Sandoval offered to help this year to ensure families weren't missed. "We have more needy people this year," said Sandoval. "The economy has been bad."

Sawyer said if they do miss anyone in the community, she'll buy more food and put together extra baskets.

In North San Ysidro, Sandoval hopped out of the truck and took a box up to an old adobe house. He was met there by George Sandoval, a retired security guard at the state Capitol, and his wife, Preciliana. They said it was the first time they had received a food box. They thanked Sandoval and asked him to thank Kilmer.

Then the caravan of trucks and the Prius moved up the road to the next house.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.