For the past several years, community groups and volunteers have been putting together gifts for seniors. With the recent merger of Senior Support and CityServe, things were a bit up in the air as Christmas was getting close, but with great effort the staff put the list of seniors together and our volunteers went to work.
Many thanks to several community groups who helped with the project: The Pleasanton Community of Character provided shopping bags, pens and mugs, the Pleasanton Police Officers Association helped purchase gifts, The Amador Valley Global Initiatives for Youth (GLIFY), Boys Team Charity (Danville), Tri-Valley Christian Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helped with donations, gifts from the “WishList” and provided volunteers to deliver to nearly 200 seniors.
Kiera Franks, who is the president of a recently organized “JustServe Club” at Wells Middle School organized kids at the school and provided over a hundred beautifully decorated, handmade cards for the gift bags.
We visited Joseph and gifted him with a bag, he is 95 years old, said he can’t drive and with the cold weather, he can’t even go out and walk, “I’m not well and will not last much longer”. His “baby brother” just died a few months ago, his sisters are also old and can’t visit often. He was so appreciative of the visit and gift, especially someone to talk to, he is such a gracious man and a joy to visit. He lives in a local senior complex and he keeps his home very neat and tidy.
As we celebrate the Christmas season, let’s all remember our own seniors, who may be our parents, grandparents, neighbors, and friends, they helped build our nation and created a legacy for us and our children. Visit them and bring cheer to their Christmas season.
CityServe serves seniors who need help with support, counseling, transportation, wellness and care coordination. For information, see: cityservecares.org/seniors. If you are interested in volunteering to help our seniors, email: [email protected]
If you are interested in volunteer opportunities, visit: www.JustServe.org
