Help a senior this holiday season

The holiday season is also the season of giving and a time to share smiles with those around you. As you gather to drink hot cocoa and sing carols with family and friends, it’s important to remember there are seniors in your community who would love to celebrate, too. However, many seniors live alone, without someone to share this special time.

Home Instead Senior Care is once again offering the community a chance to spread joy to local seniors. Through the Be a Santa to a Senior program, community members can give a senior a special holiday gift. Since the program’s inception in 2003, the Be a Santa to a Senior program has mobilized more than 60,000 volunteers, provided approximately 1.2 million gifts and brightened the season for more than 700,000 deserving seniors nationwide. Last year, nearly 300 seniors received gifts through the program.

“The Be a Santa to a Senior program is all about including seniors in the joy of the holiday season,” Kim D’Amico, owner of the Whitehall Home Instead Senior Care office, said. “A simple gift shows them they are a loved and vital member of our community.”

Be a Santa to a Senior is a true community program, with generous support from businesses, nonprofit organizations, retailers, numerous volunteers and members of the community. Home Instead Senior Care has partnered with Ages and Stages Early Learning and Child Development Center, Moore Elementary School, Boscov’s, Parkland Restaurant and both Trivet Diner locations as well as Lehigh County Office of Aging & Adult Services, Cedarbrook County Home, B’nai B’rith Apartments and Episcopal House to identify seniors and help with gift collection and distribution.

It’s easy to help. Visit one of the participating locations listed below and look for the Be a Santa to a Senior tree on display over the next several weeks. Each tree will be decorated with ornaments featuring seniors’ first names and gift suggestions. Holiday shoppers can choose an ornament, buy the requested gift and return it to the store with the ornament attached. There’s no need to worry about wrapping - community volunteers and program partners will wrap and deliver the gifts to local seniors in time for the holidays.

“While it may seem like a small act of kindness, it can really make a difference for someone this holiday season,” D’Amico said. “Watching seniors open the gifts they received through Be a Santa to a Senior and seeing the smiles and appreciation on their faces is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.”

Be a Santa to a Senior trees can be found at the following locations:

• Parkland Restaurant, 2702 Walbert Ave., Allentown, through Dec. 6

• Boscov’s, 400 Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, through Dec. 6

• Trivet Diner, 4549 W. Tilghman St., South Whitehall Township, through Dec. 6

• Trivet Diner, 4102 Chestnut St., Emmaus, through Dec. 6

For more information about the program, visit BeaSantatoaSenior.com or call 610-770-7773.

For more information about how you can help seniors in your community, visit imreadytocare.com.