Christine Hockman, meet “Shirley Six Chickens.”

Hockman is the Lawrence woman who had all her Thanksgiving dinner fixings stolen this week from her Pinckney neighborhood home. “Shirley Six Chickens” — aka Shirley Parker of Kansas City, Mo. — is one of about a dozen strangers who came to Hockman’s rescue the past two days and helped restore her holiday feast.

In all, people pitched in an estimated $400 in food and other gifts for Hockman, who moved to Lawrence from Topeka a month ago because she thought it would be safer for her three sons.

“It made me feel a lot better,” the 36-year-old Hockman said Thursday. “I mean, it was kind of overwhelming.”

Parker, 51, said she learned of Hockman’s stolen food on Wednesday while watching the TV news.

“I thought, ‘Well, I can fix that,'” Parker said.

She reached Hockman by telephone, then drove to Lawrence and met her about 8 p.m. at an exit off Interstate 70. Hockman soon found she was in good hands.

“I told her my nickname is ‘Shirley Six Chickens.'” Parker said. “Every time I go to Wal-Mart, I go to the deli and say to the man, ‘Hi it’s Shirley. Do you have my six chickens?'”

Parker — a retired Southwestern Bell employee who uses a wheelchair– brought along a load of groceries she’d bought earlier in the day. She also took Hockman to Dillons to pick up what Parker called “the extra stuff.”

6News video: Turkey, trimmings stolen from Lawrence home (11-27-03) Thanksgiving theft (11-27-03)

“We bought stuff like celery, carrots, salad,” Parker said. “For the holidays, it’s not just about having a turkey or ham. It’s all those little side dishes.”

Others who donated food or money to Hockman include Rick Younger, owner of the Lawrence tavern Rick’s Place; several anonymous Lawrence residents and a couple from Independence, Mo. One man offered to pay the fines she’d been charged for the rented DVDs stolen during the burglary.

Some of Hockman’s co-workers from NCS in the East Hills Business Park gave her $10 Target gift cards, which she plans to use to help replace her sons’ Nintendo GameCube.

By Wednesday night, Hockman, 36, was turning away people who wanted to help. On Thursday she had a feast for eight people, including her sons, two friends and their children.

“We had macaroni and cheese — real macaroni and cheese,” she said. “We had ham and turkey and cranberry sauce and stuffing. We had a relish tray. We had pumpkin pie and cherry pie and apple pie and fudge, strawberry bread. There was a ton of food.”