The holidays are such a special time of year, but for some isolated seniors the holidays don’t always feel special. For more than 5,600 seniors that may be homebound or feeling lonely, this holiday season will bring extra cheer from a Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW) program called Santa for Seniors.
Started in 2015 as a legacy tribute to local Tacoma businessman Bill Looney, Santa for Seniors was created when he visited his own mother in her nursing home and noticed how many older adults in the same home had no family or visitors. So, Bill and his family began dressing up as Santa and bringing gifts to the residents of that home. When he passed of cancer in 2015, his family partnered with LCSNW to keep the program going, serving 175 people that first year.
“We hope to take the vision of the local Santa for Seniors program nationally,” said Director Susan Nocella. “Within the LCSNW agency, Tacoma is the only office that focuses on seniors and their unique issues, so advancing the program nationally is important to us locally.”
The Santa for Seniors program now crosses over into Oregon and up and down the I-5 corridor with ten counties in Washington and two in Oregon. Partnering with various groups in each county to find the isolated seniors in the most need, they work with low-income food programs, housing programs, and senior living communities.
Want to help? Volunteer to assemble the gift bags. Check out the Amazon wish list on their website or ask for some ornament kits and use the basic staples they come with to decorate them. Request card-making kits and decorate several of them to put in the gift bags. Other volunteers knit lap throws. One sorority made cute gnome ornaments for the bags. You can even set up a pen pal through Santa for Seniors.
And don’t forget to encourage your employer to support Lutheran Community Services Northwest and especially the Santa for Seniors program. The work they do is so important to our community.
To learn more about the other ways you can help the Lutheran Community Services Northwest Santa for Seniors program, visit lcsnw.org by Lynn Castle