?Be a Santa to a Senior? Brightens the Holidays for Isolated and Forgotten Seniors in Oakland County
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. ? Local seniors who otherwise might be forgotten this holiday season will receive gifts and companionship once again this year through the fourth annual ?Be a Santa to a Senior? program. Local retailers and more than 30 senior facilities and non-profit organizations are partnering with event sponsor Home Instead Senior Care of Birmingham to brighten the lives of seniors in Oakland County.
?While we focus on children during this time of year, we also must remember our older generation that too often is overlooked,? said Tina Rowley, owner of the Birmingham Home Instead Senior Care office, who is also partnering with Home Instead Senior Care in Walled Lake and Waterford for the program. ?But it?s not just about the gifts. The program is also designed to provide social interaction for seniors who are unlikely to have guests during the holidays.?
Over the past four years, more than 9,000 gifts have been delivered to area seniors through ?Be a Santa to a Senior.?
From Thursday, Nov. 6, until Friday, Dec. 5, shoppers can select ornaments from ?Be a Santa to a Senior? trees at all Oakland County National City Bank branches and ACO Hardware stores.
Each ornament lists the first name of a senior in need, along with gift requests. Seniors were selected by participating non-profit organizations. Holiday shoppers can purchase gifts and return them unwrapped, along with the ornament, to the tree location.
Home Instead Senior Care then enlists the volunteer help of the community and its staff to collect, wrap, and distribute the gifts.
Wrapping parties are scheduled for Monday, Dec. 15, and Tuesday, Dec. 16, at the Troy Community Center. Volunteers are encouraged to contact Home Instead Senior Care at (248) 904-8455 or bert.copple@homeinstead.com for more information. Businesses are encouraged to contact the local Home Instead Senior Care office about adopting groups of seniors. For more information about the program and tree locations, log on to www.beasantatoasenior.com.
This is the fifth year of the national program where last year volunteers distributed more than 400,000 gifts to deserving seniors across the U.S. Since ?Be a Santa to a Senior? was launched four years ago, Home Instead Senior Care franchises across the country have helped provide more than 930,000 gifts to nearly 570,000 seniors.
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Contacts
Bert Copple Jana McGuire
Home Instead Senior Care Parsons Public Relations, Inc.
Phone: (248) 904-8455 Phone: 1-888-434-4777, Ext. 3
bert.copple@homeinstead.com jana@parsonspr.net
www.homeinstead.com/283 www.parsonspr.net
Original source: http://michiganhomecare.wordpress.com/?p=218
