Dec. 24, 2010

In a "Be a Santa to a Senior" effort led again this fall by Charlotte's Home Instead Senior Care, patrons of Dilworth Coffee outlets picked names off trees, purchased and wrapped gifts, then brought gifts back to Dilworth Coffee.

The resulting outpouring of generosity will brighten the holidays for hundreds of Friendship Trays recipients.

Friendship Trays volunteers have been taking bags of gifts on their rounds all this week. Final deliveries of the gifts won't be complete until Monday or Tuesday next week.

Kelly Vass captured the impact of the program in her Dec. 20 "Nutrition for Life" blog:

"'I don't know what I'd do without the meals,' says Mr. J. And that Christmas present that a volunteer driver delivered last year, courtesy of the Be a Santa to a Senior program? That gift was the only one he received.'

Our thanks to the hundreds of Charlotte residents who took action to spread the holiday spirit this fall, to Home Instead Senior Care, and to the Friendship Trays volunteers who without complaint added another bag to their rounds to make the distribution of the gifts possible.

The slideshow from 2009 is here.