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Girls from the Boardman Poland Junior Women’s League Juniorettes program help load gifts for senior citizens. Volunteers wrapped the gifts at the Holiday Inn in Boardman on Thursday as part of a program called Be a Santa to a Senior, sponsored by Home Instead Senior Care of Austintown.
Volunteers pitch in to brighten some seniors’ holiday
By jeanne starmack
BOARDMAN
Santa’s workshop had nothing on the South Avenue Holiday Inn on Thursday.
In a large room at the hotel, people sat at tables full of ribbon and wrapping paper and jockeyed for one of the 60 pairs of scissors available for the 100 volunteers who were expected to be there.
They wrapped, and wrapped and wrapped. But there were still so many unwrapped presents waiting in the middle of the floor — this wrapping party didn’t look as though it were going to wrap up very soon.
State Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-33rd, of Canfield, said the mound of gifts had actually shrunk considerably.
“They’ve got almost half the pile down,” he said as he stopped, bags in each hand, to survey what was left of the presents collected through Home Instead Senior Care’s Be a Santa to a Senior Program.
“I’ve got the easy job,” Schiavoni said. “I’m a runner,” he continued, adding that he retrieved wrapped gifts and sorted them into boxes for packing onto trucks that would take them to more than 700 seniors throughout the Valley who don’t have the support of family or friends this holiday season.
He’d gotten involved, he said, when he was asked weeks ago to take the first paper ornament with the name of a senior citizen off a Christmas tree at Optiview in Austintown.
That store, along with an Optiview in Niles, the Walmart Vision Centers in Boardman and Warren, Curves of Canfield, Boardman and Austintown, and the Super Kmart in Niles put up trees that featured ornaments with names of seniors who would appreciate gifts this year.
Shoppers plucked the ornaments off, bought four to five gifts for their senior, and those gifts were picked up for the wrapping party, which began at 2 p.m. and was expected to continue until 7 p.m., said Carol Hitchcock, who owns Home Instead in Austintown. Her company is a personal-care business that employs home-health aides.
It’s the company’s eighth year sponsoring the program, she said, which is part of a national program that involves 700 Home Instead franchises across the country.
Last year, 65,000 volunteers nationwide bought gifts for 1.5 million senior citizens, she said.
The Austintown franchise will begin delivering gifts soon.
“We’re going to start today and continue into next week until they’re all delivered,” said Dawn Trickett, recruitment manager for the franchise.
But first, there was that not-so-small matter of wrapping to finish.
“I feel like kicking my shoes off, Judy,” said Kay Sternagle of Berlin Center as she stood at her friend Judy Hitchcock’s elbow while they wrapped gifts.
Sternagle said she heard about the event through her friend. “And I wanted to help.”
Hitchcock, of Rogers, is Carol Hitchcock’s sister-in-law.
“It’s a nice thing she does,” Judy Hitchcock said. “This is my third or fourth year doing it, and I’m having a ball.”
“I enjoy wrapping,” said Kelly Simmons of Hubbard, who was sitting across from Judy Hitchcock. “It’s nice to give a little, when you can, “ added Simmons, who works an aide for Home Instead.
“It’s a nice start to the holiday season,” said Judy Hitchcock.
“It really gets you in the mood,” agreed Simmons.
At the next table, Makenzy Mascioli, 17, a junior at Jackson-Milton High School, also said she was enjoying the task at hand.
“I enjoy helping people out,” she said.
“Giving back,” added her schoolmate Anjelika Pizzuto, 15, a sophomore.
“To the elders, yes,” said Makenzy.
The girls, along with Kali Sebastian, 15, a sophomore, and Sam Santor, 16, a sophomore, were also racking up points for community service that will be needed in their senior year, said Anjelika’s mother, Stephanie Pizzuto.
Through all the cutting, wrapping, loading and packing, there ran a common theme for the volunteers.
Senior citizens who are alone during the holidays should not feel as if no one cares about them, they said.
“I’m truly happy to help, so older people in our area aren’t forgotten about,” said Schiavoni. “I hope they ask me to come back next year. I’ll be here in a second.”