10th annual ‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ underway
Published 12:04 am Friday, November 18, 2016
As the holiday season gets into full swing throughout Northeast Tennessee, Home Instead Senior Care is celebrating a milestone with one of their programs.
With offices located in Bristol, Greeneville, Johnson City and Kingsport, Home Instead services eight counties, including Carter, and is getting their annual “Be a Santa to a Senior” event ready for Christmas.
“We always look forward to this event,” Sarah Faulk with Home Instead told the Elizabethton Star Wednesday. “It’s a collaborative effort and we always see a lot of support, especially from the Elizabethton area.”
The program has been going on 13 years at a corporate-level, but has been in the Tri-Cities area for 10 years, thanks to the help of businesses, nonprofit organizations, retailers and numerous volunteers and members of the community.
Local Home Instead Senior Care offices have partnered with dozens of local organizations to help with gift collection and distribution in Abingdon, Blountville, Bristol, Church Hill, Elizabethton, Erwin, Greeneville, Johnson City, Kingsport, Mountain City, and Rogersville.
“The holidays can be a troubling time for seniors. They may feel the absence or the distance of loved ones,” said Richard Regen, co-owner of the local Home Instead Senior Care offices. “Be a Santa to a Senior provides a ray of hope for many seniors, and it means so much for them to know that people care and value them as members of our community.”
Participating locations will display Be a Santa to a Senior trees from Nov. 1 to Dec. 2, which will be hung with ornaments featuring seniors’ first names and their desired gifts. Holiday shoppers can choose an ornament, buy the requested gift and return it back to the store with the ornament attached.
According to a statement from Home Instead, volunteers and other organizations will handle the wrapping duties.
The partnerships span far and wide, and Elizabethton has been no different, according to Home Instead Community Service Rep Hannah Sick.
“We have such a great partnership with agencies in Elizabethton,” Sick added. The official added that Dr. James Warlick and his staff at Ward Chiropractic have been a huge help by raising awareness with a tree in their office, even offering a special on visits for individuals that take an ornament.
“Dr. Warlick and his staff have been fantastic,” Sick said. “They’ve done an incredible job in raising awareness for the event.”
Other offices across the Tri-Cities that have trees include:
• Johnson City Medical Center, 400 N. State of Franklin Road, Johnson City
• Franklin Woods Community Hospital, 300 Med Tech Parkway, Johnson City
• Woodridge Hospital, 403 N. State of Franklin Road, Johnson City
• Belk Department Store at Johnson City Mall, 2011 N. Roan Street, Johnson City
• Takoma Regional Hospital, 401 Takoma Avenue, Greeneville
• Greene County Drug, 906 Tusculum Boulevard, Greeneville
• Belk Department Store at Kingsport Town Center, 2101 Fort Henry Drive, Kingsport
• The Community Center of Abingdon, 300 Senior Drive NE, Abingdon
• Kingsport Senior Center, 1200 E. Center Street, 1st Floor, Kingsport
• Wal-Mart of Rogersville, 4331 Highway 66 S., Rogersville
• Cuts on the Corner, 1664 E. Stone Drive, #B, Kingsport
• HMG Administration, 2323 N. John B. Dennis Highway, Kingsport
• HMG Primary Care at Colonial Heights, 4848 Ft. Henry Drive, Kingsport
• HMG Primary Care at Meadowview/Meadowview Outpatient Diagnostic Center, 2033 Meadowview Lane, Suite 200, Kingsport
• HMG Urgent Care at Medical Plaza, 105 W. Stone Drive, Kingsport
• HMG Urgent Care Center at Sapling Grove, 240 Medical Park Boulevard, Bristol
• Seasons at Bristol, 320 Bristol West Boulevard, Building 1, Suite 2C, Bristol
• Slater Community Center, 325 McDowell Street, Bristol
“We are excited to have so many other organizations in the community supporting our tenth year of Be a Santa to a Senior,” said George Smith, fellow co-owner of the Home Instead Senior Care offices. “Over the past decade, we have brightened the holidays for over eleven thousand seniors across the Tri-Cities, and we look forward to making an impact again this holiday season.”
For more information about the program, visit BeaSantatoaSenior.com or call (423) 753-5111.