Home Instead encourages Santas for UC seniors this year

Wednesday, Nov 2, 2011

Be a Santa to a Senior, the popular campaign that in 2010 delivered around 400 gifts to local needy seniors, is being planned again this holiday during a time when seniors may need more of the bare necessities to survive.

The area office of the Home Instead Senior Care network, the world’s largest provider of non-medical home care and companionship for older adults, has joined with the Upper Cumberland Development District, Adult Protective Services, Highland Rim Home Health, Quality Home Health, Avalon Hospice, Odyssey Hospice, Heritage Pointe Senior Living, Duncan and Sons Moving and Storage, W&O Construction, Wal-Mart Supercenter in Algood, Village Green Mall in Fairfield Glade, Tenn., as well as local hospitals and churches to provide presents to seniors who otherwise might not receive a gift this holiday season.

“Most people aren’t aware that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of seniors in every community who have no family and are alone,” said Kim Driver, Community Service Director for the Home Instead Senior Care office serving the Upper Cumberland area. “What’s more, this holiday season finds many older adults struggling with the basic necessities as the economic downturn continues and Social Security fails to keep pace with daily living expenses.”

The program isn’t just about gifts, though. Be a Santa to a Senior is designed to give back to those needy seniors as well as to help stimulate human contact and social interaction for older adults who are unlikely to have guests during the holidays.

Here’s how the program, which runs from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, works: Christmas trees will go up at Wal-Mart Supercenter in Algood and Village Green Mall in Fairfield Glade as well as Collegeside Church of Christ, Life Church, and Heritage Pointe, all in Cookeville, on Nov. 1. The trees feature ornaments with the first names only of the seniors and their respective gift requests.

Holiday shoppers can pick up an ornament, buy items on the list and return them unwrapped to the store or designated drop-off location, along with the ornament attached. The local Home Instead Senior Care then enlists the volunteer help of its staff, senior-care business associates, non-profit workers and others to collect, wrap and distribute the gifts. A gift-wrapping day, when hundreds of the presents will be wrapped, will be held tentatively on Tuesday, Dec. 13.

If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering to help on the gift-wrapping day, contact Kim Driver at 931.526.1127. For more information about the program, log on to www.beasantatoasenior.com.

Editor's note: This article was submitted by Home Instead Senior Care.