A program designed to ensure local seniors have a gift to open on Christmas Day has collected nearly 1,000 items.
The annual Be a Santa to a Senior campaign was launched by Home Instead Senior Care on November 13. The campaign collected almost 300 more gifts this year than in 2011.
The program partners with local retailers, non-profit agencies and volunteers from the community to make opening a gift on the 25th possible.
“People in this city have embraced this program and have helped it grow so much over the last four years,” said Julie Donaldson of Home Instead Senior Care in Winnipeg. “It’s really moving when someone purchases a gift because a parent or grandparent they used to shop for is no longer around.”
The public picked up ornaments with the first names of seniors and their gift requests from Christmas trees at Victoria General Hospital, then dropped off their requested gifts earlier this month.
