Everyone deserves to enjoy the warmth of the holiday season, and this year, area seniors who are alone or impoverished will be able to do just that.
Sponsored by the Home Instead Senior Care® office serving Craven, Carteret, Jones and Pamlico counties, the Be a Santa to a Senior® program provides gifts and companionship for lonely and isolated seniors. The program is made possible by the generous support of area nonprofit organizations, retailers, numerous volunteers and members of the community.
“There are so many seniors, right here in Craven, Carteret, Jones and Pamlico county areas that have nothing and no one,” said Peg Boyle, Senior Care Advocate at the local Home Instead Senior Care office. “Through this program, we are able to show them that they are valuable members of our community and that people still care.”
Home Instead Senior Care has partnered with local merchants to help with the gift collection and distribution.
Participating retail locations will display Be a Santa to a Senior Christmas trees from November 23rd to December 14th that feature ornaments with seniors’ first names and their gift requests. Holiday shoppers can pick ornaments from the trees, buy the items listed and return them unwrapped (and with the ornament attached) to the store.
Program partners and volunteers will take care of wrapping and distributing the gifts. A wrapping party will be held throughout the day, Wednesday December 16th at Home Instead Senior Care, 3601 Trent Rd, STE 4. Volunteers are welcome.
“We have seen, firsthand, how much this program means to local seniors,” said Bobbitt. “Without it, there would be seniors for whom the holidays would pass without even a visit.”
You can find a Be A Santa To a Senior tree at the following locations:
Walmart – Havelock
Realo Pharmacy on Commerce Dr, New Bern
Realo Pharmacy in Bridgeton
the little bank – New Bern
Sound Bank – New Bern
Carolina Bagel and Deli
Home Instead Senior Care
Bear Essentials
R.W. Moore Equipment Co
Subway – Trenton
Lowes Foods – Cape Carteret
Lowes Foods – Morehead City
First Baptist Church
For more information about the program, visit BeaSantatoaSenior.com or call 252-633-3283.
Submitted by: Peggy Walker Barnes on behalf of Be a Santa to a Senior