South Bay Nonprofit Organizations and Businesses Pitch In To Support "Be a Santa to a Senior" Gift Giveaway
Torrance Home Instead Senior Care is sponsoring the "Be a Santa to a Senior" program that collects and distributes gifts to needy seniors. Volunteers, boxes and donations, especially of grocery and pharmacy cards are urgently needed. Please contact Farrah Benedict or Teresa McNeil at 310-542-0563 between the hours of 8 a. m. and 5 p. m. Mon-Fri.
Torrance, Calif. (PRWEB) November 1, 2009
A total of 22 area retailers, businesses and agencies that serve older adults have partnered with Torrance Home Instead Senior Care to make sure that needy seniors receive gifts and companionship through the "Be a Santa to a Senior" program.
"The holiday is often considered a time for children, but seniors - especially those who are isolated and lonely - are the forgotten ones and need to be remembered," said Denise de Cock, RN, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office serving Torrance, Palos Verdes and Marina del Rey. " I've seen this program change lives - many times our Santa gifts are the only ones many seniors receive at holiday time. Many are asking for grocery and pharmacy cards to help with the cost of food and medicine."
The Be a Santa to a Senior community service program, which runs from Nov. 1 through Dec. 22 in the South Bay, is organized to ensure that seniors get the items they need and want. Before the holiday season, participating local non-profit organizations identify needy and isolated seniors in the community and provide those names to Torrance Home Instead Senior Care. Christmas trees, which will go up in seven locations in the South Bay on Nov. 2 and in the Del Amo Mall on Nov. 27, will 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, along with the ornament attached. Torrance 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 citywide gift-wrapping day, when hundreds of presents will be wrapped, will be held on December 17, 3:30 p. m. at the Salvation Army of Torrance Adult Day Care Center, 4223 Emerald St.
Torrance Home Instead Senior Care is currently looking for help and needs:
Volunteers to monitor the tree at the Del Amo Mall during mall hours from Nov. 27 through Dec. 13. Volunteers for the wrapping party Dec. 17 Boxes, preferably those with a lid, (copier paper boxes are ideal) to transport wrapped gifts. Donations of grocery and pharmacy gift cards and wrapping paper. Those who want to lend a hand may contact Farrah Benedict or Teresa McNeil at 310-542-0563 between the hours of 8 a. m. and 5 p. m. Mon-Fri.
Ongoing supporters of the Torrance Home Instead Be a Santa to a Senior program include Salvation Army Sage House, San Pedro and Adult Day Care Center, Torrance; South Bay Senior Services, Torrance; Beach Cities Health District, Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes Health Care Center, Lomita who provide names of deserving seniors as well as volunteers to help with the program.
Businesses that have donated to this year's program include Jamison Services Inc., Office Depot/Harborgate Way, Torrance; Kelly Paper and Xpedex Paper, Gardena; Minuteman Press, Torrance; and Goodwill Shredding, Long Beach.
This is the sixth year that Be a Santa to a Senior has made a difference in the lives of seniors. Last year, more than 28,000 volunteers nationwide distributed gifts to deserving seniors. Since introducing the Be a Santa to a Senior program, the corporate office of Home Instead Senior Care and its network of more than 800 franchises in the United States and 11 other countries have helped provide more than one million gifts to 700,000 seniors.
Businesses are encouraged to contact Torrance Home Instead Senior Care at 310-542-0563 about adopting groups of seniors. For tree locations in your area, or for more information about the program, log on to www. beasantatoasenior. com. To learn more about Torrance Home Instead Senior Care log on to http://www. homeinstead. com/286 (http://www. homeinstead. com/286).
About Home Instead Senior Care, Torrance
Home Instead Senior Care/Torrance provides in-home senior care to clients in the South Bay, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, offering an unmatched level of integrity, trustworthiness and responsiveness. It is the only senior care provider in the South Bay with a comprehensive hiring and training program that ensures high quality care and reliable, personalized client service that consistently goes above and beyond expectations.
Through ongoing relationships with local senior care nonprofits, agencies, medical centers, assisted living facilities and other senior service providers, Home Instead Senior Care/Torrance has become the most informed source for senior care in the South Bay.
For more information, call 1-800-FOR SENIORS or visit www. homeinstead. com/286 (http://www. homeinstead. com/286).
Media Contact: Mary Blake, MB Writing & Consulting Group, (310) 376-3163 or 310-710-2755
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