A campaign to ensure less privileged seniors have a gift to open on Christmas was launched in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
The Be a Santa to a Senior campaign will be run by the Home Instead Senior Care network. In the past three years, nearly 1,000 gifts have been delivered to seniors in the city. The demand is expected to be high again this year as seniors struggle with the rising cost of living.
The program has attracted upwards of 65,000 volunteers during the past seven years, distributing 1.5 million gifts to more than 750,000 deserving seniors throughout North America.
Besides providing gifts, the program is a way to give back to deserving seniors and engage them in human contact and social interaction for those who are not as fortunate to have visitors during the holidays.
Non-profit organizations will work to identify isolated and deserving seniors, and pass that information along to the Home Instead Senior Care office at 581 Sargent Avenue. The names and gift requests of seniors will be placed on a Christmas tree in the form of paper ornaments for donors to fulfill their requests.
