Santa Program Gears Up to Surprise Seniors

ROGERS -- Santa's workshop was in full swing at Frisco Station Mall on Monday as children wrapped gifts and bundled them together for delivery to local seniors.

Some 330 seniors will get a surprise delivery this year, said Kristine Stanley, co-owner of Home Instead Senior Care of Northwest Arkansas. It's the 11th year for the franchise to oversee the "Be a Santa to a Senior" program.

"This is the biggest year ever," Stanley said.

Last year, 185 senior names were submitted to the wish list. The number of submissions depends on the nominating organizations, she said. Seniors don't submit their own names -- deliveries are a surprise. Senior names were submitted from independent living complexes and senior programs across Benton and Washington counties, from Rogers, Prairie Grove, Siloam Springs, Gravette, Pea Ridge, Fayetteville and Farmington.

Suggested gifts included slippers, robes, scarves, lap blankets, towels -- things that were practical, but unlikely for seniors to buy themselves, Stanley said.

The gift is only part of the fun, organizers said. Delivery is equally important.

"I've had them get tears in their eyes. It's like a child opening up that gift on Christmas morning," Stanley said.

Rebecca Pullen, a volunteer, started her deliveries Monday afternoon.

"The joy on their faces just made my whole day," Pullen said.

Seniors are lonely, Pullen said.

She brings cookies and sometimes her grandson comes along. This year she will deliver about 20 packages.

One man told her Monday he was flabbergasted by the gift and tucked it under the Christmas tree for later. An elderly woman had her tree up, but no lights. She told Pullen she couldn't always afford to keep the lights on the tree.

Mostly, Pullen said, seniors love the company.

"We make every holiday about kids," she said. "(Seniors) seem to be kind of pushed to the side."

Adult children might not be able to visit, or friends and family seniors once knew may have died, leaving them alone, said Marilyn Hodgin, community service representative for the senior care office.

"As you get older, a lot of time your family is gone. You might be the last one left," she said.

Family is part of the Christmas tradition, Hodgin said.

"This is like just a touch of Christmas for people who would not otherwise be touched," she said.

Her children didn't know seniors could be so alone before they volunteered to deliver packages a few years ago, said Alisa Andrews, a volunteer. She came with a group from Northwest Arkansas Christian Home Educators Association to wrap packages on Monday afternoon.

People need to know someone cares about them during the Christmas season, she said.

"We were loved once 2,000 years ago," she said, referencing her faith.

However, it doesn't take faith to recognize there are people in need, Andrews said. She hopes children in the group learn that it's important to give whether they know the recipient or not.

Seniors often ask how the program got their name, Stanley said. By the time they make the delivery, nobody really knows. The mystery adds a little of the magic of Christmas, she said.

"To me, this is what Christmas is all about. It's giving," she said.