The holidays are a time to celebrate the joy and warmth of the season with friends and family. In Berlin and Salisbury, the local Home Instead Senior Care® office is inviting the community to celebrate with local seniors who may be alone during the holiday season.
The Home Instead Senior Care office serving Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset Counties is helping to facilitate Be a Santa to a Senior®, a community program that provides gifts and companionship to seniors who may be isolated from friends or family during the holiday season. The program is made possible through the generous support of local businesses, nonprofit organizations, retailers, numerous volunteers and members of the community.
“The holidays can be a troubling time for seniors. They may feel the absence or the distance of loved ones,” said Corrie Boger, co-owner of the Berlin Home Instead Senior Care office. “Be a Santa to a Senior provides a ray of hope for many seniors, and it means so much for them to know that people care and value them as members of our community.”
The local Home Instead Senior Care office has partnered with several local organizations to help with gift collection and distribution, including the MAC Area Agency on Aging, Shore Up – Shady Pines Adult Medical Day Services, Worcester County Departments of Health and Social Services, Worcester County Commission on Aging, Coastal Hospice – Compass Program, Berlin Nursing & Rehab and Fresenius Dialysis Center.
Holiday shoppers are invited to participate in Be a Santa to a Senior by picking up a paper ornament at a participating location. Participating locations will display Be a Santa to a Senior trees from Nov. 7 to Dec. 12, which will be hung with ornaments featuring seniors’ first names and their desired gifts. Holiday shoppers can choose an ornament and buy the requested gift. Home Instead asks all participants to wrap and return the gifts back to the store with the ornament attached. Gifts will be distributed to Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset seniors beginning Dec. 14.
“Be a Santa to a Senior provides a much-needed boost for seniors who may be isolated, not just through gifts, but through interaction and companionship,” said Don Boger, co-owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office in Berlin. “We’re so grateful to have a community that comes together to show our local seniors they are not alone during the holidays.”
Be a Santa to a Senior trees can be found at the following locations:
* Apple Discount Drugs, 404 A N. Fruitland Blvd., Salisbury
* Apple Discount Drugs, 1210 Nanticoke Rd., Unit 11, Salisbury
* Apple Discount Drugs, 314 Franklin Ave., Ste. 600, Berlin
* Salisbury Chamber of Commerce, 144 E. Main St., Salisbury
* Snow Hill Pharmacy, 5610 Market St., Unit 2, Snow Hill
* The Ocean Pines Parks & Rec Community Center, 235 Ocean Parkway, Ocean Pines
* Salisbury University Conference Planning Department, 1101 Camden Ave, Commons Building, Room 200, Salisbury
* Wor-Wic Community College, CEWD Allied Health Division (Hazel Center), 32000 Campus Drive, Salisbury
For more information about the program, visit BeaSantatoaSenior.com or call 410-641-0901.
