Program will provide holiday cheer for elderly

YOUNGSTOWN — Home Instead Senior Care is teaming up with nonprofit agencies and area retailers to sponsor a “Be a Santa to a Senior” program, a holiday gift giveaway that will cheer lonely and needy seniors in the tri-county area.

The program will begin Monday when special trees, featuring ornaments with the first names only of seniors and their respective gift requests, go up in area shops and businesses. Shoppers can pick an ornament from a tree, buy the requested item, and return the unwrapped gift and ornament to one of the following participating businesses:

• Wal-Mart, 1300 Doral Drive, Poland.

• Wal-Mart, 2015 Wal-Mart Drive NE, Warren.

• Curves, 7050 Market St., Boardman.

• Curves, 4366 Boardman-Canfield Road, Canfield.

• Curves, 4421Mahoning Ave., Austintown.

• Curves, 812 N. State St., Girard.

• Optiview Vision Center, 1040 Youngstown-Warren Road, Niles.

• Optiview Vision Center, 6000 Mahoning Ave., Austintown.

• Super K, 2100 Niles-Cortland Road SE, Warren.

• First National Bank, 7025 Market St., Boardman.

• Citizens Financial, 6936 Market St., Boardman.

• Trumbull Career and Technical Center, Patty Krevosh & Career Paths for the Teaching Profession, 528 Educational Highway, Warren.

On Dec. 9 Home Instead Senior Care and volunteer staff members will host a public gift wrapping party from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Boardman. The entire community is invited to participate, and students from Trumbull Career and Technical Center and Career Paths for the Teaching Profession will be on hand to help.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the gift-wrapping project is asked to call Carol Hitchock at (330) 729-1233.

The wrapped gifts will be delivered to seniors from Dec. 14 to 19.