We are humbled to report that once again this holiday season, Minneapolis volunteers went above and beyond to make Christmas memorable for local seniors who may not have otherwise received gifts or companionship.

The Be a Santa to a Senior® 2017 program was a huge success this year and I cannot thank the many volunteers involved enough for all your support. Without the workshop full of elves taking care of putting up the trees, selecting tags and shopping for local seniors, storing the gifts, and helping to make the deliveries, this program would not exist. A heartfelt thank you goes out to each and every one of you! We at Home Instead Senior Care Minneapolis understand the holidays are a very busy time of year for all, but hopefully seeing the smiles on the faces of the seniors and knowing how much fun the volunteers had participating warms your heart as much as it does mine.

Delivering over 3,000 donated gifts, this truly was a memorable Christmas and I’d like to give a special shout out to the West Metro Fire Station who received and distributed over 250 gift bags. Overall, the donated gifts were delivered to 34 different locations!

To stay in touch and make sure that you’re informed about our Be a Santa to a Senior® program next year, like us on Facebook and you’ll see our timely updates. Check out some of the fun pictures on our Facebook page and take a moment to watch this video:

The Be a Santa to a Senior® campaign is all about helping seniors who are alone or in need. The Minneapolis office of the Home Instead Senior Care® network has partnered with local non-profits groups such as East Side Neighborhood Services in Minneapolis, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, Meals on Wheels, several nursing homes and low income housing to provide gifts and companionship to seniors who otherwise might not receive either during the holiday season. What began with just one nursing home has since grown into a movement. The official kickoff began with decorating Christmas trees with ornament tags inside the establishment of our participating partners. Thank you to the 2017 partners:

• Starbucks, 7802 Olson Memorial Highway, Golden Valley, MN 55427
• Starbucks, 5596 West Broadway, Crystal, MN 55428
• Lunds & Byerlys Pharmacy, 1151 Wayzata Blvd, Wayzata, MN 55391
• Lunds & Byerlys Pharmacy, 55 University Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
• Lunds & Byerlys Pharmacy, 3777 Park Center Blvd, St. Louis Park, MN 55416
• Lunds & Byerlys Pharmacy, 12880 Elm Creek Blvd, Maple Grove, MN 55369
• Lunds & Byerlys Pharmacy, 13081 Ridgedale Drive, Minnetonka, MN 55305
• Lunds & Byerlys Pharmacy, 3455 Vicksburg Lane, Plymouth, MN 55447
• West Metro Fire Station #3, 4251 Xylon Avenue N, New Hope, MN 55428
• Home Instead Senior Care of Minneapolis, 9684 63^rd Ave N, Maple Grove, MN 55369

From there, generous donors selected an ornament tag from the trees with the name of a senior and some suggestions of what they would like. The donors delivered the item(s) back to the location in a gift bag and the Be a Santa to a Senior “elves” picked up the gifts and delivered them to seniors in nursing homes, low income senior housing, adult day centers and personally nominated individuals.

Home Instead Minneapolis is thrilled to partner each year with local fire stations. Relief associations, retired and off-duty firefighters from Hopkins, Golden Valley, Wayzata, Minneapolis, New Hope and St. Louis Park fire stations all assisted the program by picking up and storing the gifts.  When the gifts were all collected they also helped to deliver the gifts to several of the nursing homes, assisted living and senior apartment facilities in and around the Minneapolis area. THANK YOU once again to the firefighters, retired members as well as spouses and family members for being involved with our Be a Santa to a Senior® campaign! We could not pull this off without you! We appreciate your partnership and your volunteer time.

Since its inception, the Be a Santa to a Senior® campaign has attracted over 60,000 volunteers throughout North America, and has donated more than 1.2 million gifts to over 700,000 seniors who are in need of assistance or companionship. We’re doing our part here in Minneapolis and surrounding communities – you can join the movement and help a senior in your Minnesota community too!