Community service project is Christmas gift to seniors

BOARDMAN — Home Instead Senior Care, nonprofit agencies and area retailers are teaming up to sponsor a “Be a Santa to a Senior” program to collect, wrap and deliver gifts to lonely and needy seniors in Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties in time for Christmas.

The program will begin at 10 a.m. Nov. 10 when Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams takes the first ornament off a Christmas tree at Optiview Vision Center, 6000 Mahoning Ave., Suite 394, Austintown.

This is the fifth year for local participation in the program, which delivered more than 2,500 gifts to more than 700 area seniors last year.

The “Be a Santa to a Senior” program begins prior to the holiday season, when participating local nonprofit organizations such as the Visiting Nurse Association, Catholic Charities, SCOPE of Warren, Volunteer Services Agency, Guardian Angels, local nursing homes and churches identify needy and isolated seniors and provide their names to Home Instead.

How program works

Christmas trees, decorated with ornaments bearing the first name of one of the seniors and a gift request, are then placed at several participating venues, including Wal-Mart on Elm Road, Warren; Wal-Mart on South Avenue, Boardman; Super Kmart on state Route 46, Warren; Curves for Women on Market Street, Boardman, and in Canfield; and Optiview Vision Centers in Austintown and Niles.

Shoppers are invited to select an ornament, buy the requested item, and return the ornament and unwrapped gift to the store. Volunteers will then participate in a citywide gift-wrapping event from 1 to 7 p.m. Dec. 10 at the Holiday Inn, Boardman.

The community-service project ends on Dec. 15, when volunteers deliver the gifts to the seniors who would otherwise be forgotten during the hectic holiday season.

Businesses interested in adopting a group of seniors and those willing to help with the gift-wrapping are asked to contact Dottie Johntony at (330) 729-1233.

For more information contact www.beasantatoasenior.com.