My best friend and I spent most of our weekend shopping, but it wasn’t for us (OKAY, we did accidentally find a few things for ourselves along the way…we’re not perfect!).
We like to participate in the Be a Santa to a Senior program. This time of year there are many lonely and needy elderly people in nursing homes or in their own homes that have no families with whom to visit or spend the holidays. In fact, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) estimates that as many as 60 percent of nursing-home residents receive no regular visitors.
The Home Instead Senior Care website describes the program:
Home Instead Senior Care partners with local non-profit and community organizations to identify seniors who might not otherwise receive gifts this holiday season. The company then works with local businesses and retail stores to help facilitate the purchase and distribution of gifts by placing trees and ornaments within their various locations. Each senior’s gift requests are written on a Be a Santa to a Senior tree ornament.
Here’s how to help an underserved senior:
- Find the nearest Be a Santa to a Senior tree location
by clicking here- Remove an ornament
- Purchase the gift
- Bring ornament and gift back to participating store
and give to store employee.
The trees in Madison are all located at Shopko and Wal-Mart stores this year, and the gifts need to be turned in by December 8th. Each ornament has several gift suggestions on it. I talked to someone from the program last week and she said she almost cried when filling out some of the requests this year. One elderly person simply wanted “gum.”
Most seniors request easy-to-find items like socks, body lotion or snacks. My friend and I love to pick the ornaments with the more challenging gift suggestions like large-print books because we figure other people might not take the time to find such things.
We love the thrill of the hunt, but most of all we love knowing that we’re bringing a little joy to someone’s life during the holidays.