‘Be a Santa’ spreads holiday cheer to seniors
Anita Hall, a volunteer, ties a bow on one of the bags that will eventually be distributed to area senior citizens. In the background is Lucy Novelly, owner of Home Instead in Bethel Park, who prepares a gift bag.
Home Instead employees Gretchen Sirney and Samantha Laslo wrap gifts that will be distributed to area seniors.
Some of the gift bags that will be distributed.
One local business is reaching out this holiday season to a group of people who are often overlooked.
Home Instead Senior Care, which has a local office in Bethel Park, has for the past nine years collected gifts for local senior citizens – some of whom may not have received a holiday gift otherwise.
“Be a Santa for a Senior” is a nationwide effort by Home Instead Senior Care to gather gifts to give to senior citizens. Locally, Home Instead is distributing gifts to seniors in the South Hills, as well as Washington County.
Names of seniors, many of them low-income, are given to Home Instead by its community partners, such as the South West Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging, along with a list of a few things they want or need. Home Instead set up several trees to pick a name and purchase the gifts the senior had on his or her wish list.
Lucy Novelly, franchise owner of Home Instead, which serves clients in the South Hills and Washington County, said they received about 400 names of senior citizens, along with their gift lists. The gifts are then distributed to each agency, such as through local Meals on Wheels, which then gives the presents to the seniors.
On Dec. 12, a group of volunteers and Home Instead employees had the task of putting all the gifts into gift bags. The bags were decorated by students at local schools, scout troops and families. Along with a few gifts, each senior also received a handmade card.
“It’s definitely a community effort for this program,” Novelly said. She added that the seniors never request anything extravagant, but instead ask for “very basic” things like ChapStick, flashlights, lotion and gift cards to the grocery store so they can buy food and medicine. Novelly said one item many seniors are requesting this year is sugar-free cookies.
“It lets them know people in the community care,” Novelly said. “These are folks who may not necessarily get a gift.”
Marge Macneal, who works at Home Instead and has wrapped gifts for the program for several years, said that this year it seems more gifts were donated to the program. “It’s great,” she said. Macneal added that last year when a volunteer delivered a gift to an older gentleman, he said that it was the first gift he had received in 10 years.
“You just never know how you’re going to touch somebody who feels isolated,” Macneal said. “It’s really rewarding.”
“It’s remarkable to see the amount of donations,” added Samantha Laslo, who works at Home Instead. She said it’s also “humbling” because the seniors are asking for things that most of us take for granted, such as towels and slippers.
The gifts will be distributed to the community partners soon and then to the seniors.