Holiday Program Helps South/Southwest Suburb Seniors Struggling With Poverty and Loneliness

With so many older adults living alone and in poverty, some South/Southwest Suburb area seniors will undoubtedly be struggling to make ends meet this holiday season. That’s why the area Home Instead Senior Care^® office has partnered with retailers and community organizations to make sure isolated seniors receive gifts and companionship through the Be a Santa to a Senior^® program.

“Seniors faced with medical bills and the high cost of living can find they have little left at the end of the year,” said Vitaly Salo, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office serving Carver, Scott, Dakota, Rice and LeSeuer Counties.. “That’s not the only issue, though. Personal needs may become magnified for so many living alone with no one to share their problems.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 9 percent of U.S. seniors 65 and older are living in poverty and 27 percent are widowed.*

With the support of  the Burnsville Senior Center, Highview Hills, Byerly, The Rivers Senior Living, RealLife Cooperative, Augustana Regent of Burnsville, Walgreens of Shakopee, Wal-Mart of Apple Valley, Faribault Senior Center, Wal-Mart of Faribault, Walgreens of Faribault, Keystone Communities of Faribault and the Faribault Senior Center, volunteers and members of the community, the local Home Instead Senior Care office will collect and distribute gifts to seniors who might otherwise spend the holiday alone.

The Be a Santa to a Senior program will kick off the week of November 5 and run through December 14.. Christmas trees, which will go up in (see tree locations below), will feature ornaments with the first names of the seniors and their respective gift requests.

Holiday shoppers are asked to pick up an ornament off special Be a Santa to a Senior Christmas trees, buy items on the list and return them unwrapped to the store, along with the ornament attached.  The Home Instead Senior Care office will then enlist the volunteer help of its staff, senior-care business associates, non-profit workers and others to collect, wrap and distribute the gifts.

“Be a Santa to a Senior is another way to say ‘thank you’ to the many seniors who have made such important contributions to our community throughout the years,” Salo said. “Helping a needy older adult can bring fulfillment to the giver as well as the receiver – it does make a difference,” he added.

For more information about the program, visit www.beasantatoasenior.com or call 952.882.9300.

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*U.S. Census Bureau;

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb12-ff07.html

Tree Locations:

Faribault

Walgreens

Faribault Senior Center

Keystone Communities of Faribault

Wal-Mart of Faribault

South Metro

Byerlys-Prairie Stone-Burnsville

Byerlys-Prairie Stone-Chanhassen

Byerlys of Eagan

McKenna Crossing

Mala Strana

Highview Hills

The Rivers

RealLife Coop

Augustana Regent

City of Burnsville

Burnsville Senior Center

Home Instead Senior Care Office—Burnsville

Walgreens-Shakopee