Be a Santa to a Senior is a nationwide program that spreads holiday cheer and provides companionship to senior citizens. Home Instead Senior Care has been running the program for 20 years.
Therese Zdesar, with Home Instead Senior Care in Mentor, appeared on Good Morning Cleveland on Sunday.
She said this year the local effort will be providing 1,300 gifts to approximately 550 older adults throughout Lake, Geauga and Portage Counties.
Zdesar said local offices on aging, senior centers, Meals on Wheels and other groups identify older adults who might otherwise be overlooked during the holidays.
Those seniors create a wish list that goes to a giving tree where the public can select and fulfill the request. Zdesar said requests include items like bath towels, dust pans, toiletries, stamps and clothing.
The Be a Santa to a Senior Giving Tree in Mentor is set up in the lobby of the Mentor Municipal Center which is located at 8500 Civic Center Boulevard. It's open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Other locations can be found here.
Once items are purchased, Zdesar said they're collected, wrapped by volunteers, and delivered by first responders.
“This is really the most cherished part of this program- and that really is the gift of the human spirit and the gift of companionship,” Zdesar said.
She said seniors also receive a handwritten letter and are able to sit down and converse with their delivery person.
“If you can imagine the holidays can really make people nostalgic or older adults nostalgic for the past, they can invoke memories of the loss of a spouse or a family member who's no longer with them. And also, there could be other things, such as mobility, that really make our seniors not have the ability to be able to get out," Zdesar said. "So, I've seen through the past 20 years just so many amazing examples where this gift of companionship is the only visitor so many of our seniors in our local community will receive this holiday season.”
