CLARK COUNTY — For those looking to give back to the senior community in the Clark County area this holiday season, give being a “Santa to a Senior” a try.
Every year, Home Instead Senior Care Vancouver partners with local healthcare and community organizations, like Prestige Care and Friends of the Elder Justice Center, to identify senior citizens who might not otherwise receive gifts this holiday season.
Home Instead Senior Care works with local businesses and retail stores to help facilitate the purchase and distribution of gifts by placing trees and ornaments within their various locations. Each senior’s gift requests are written on a Be a Santa to a Senior ornament bulb and placed on the purple trees that are distributed.
Community members can participate in the Be a Santa to a Senior program simply by finding a participating Be a Santa to a Senior location, remove a bulb with a senior’s gift request from the purple tree, purchase the requested gift(s) listed on the bulb and place the bulb and the unwrapped gift(s) in the designated box.
According to the Be a Santa to a Senior website, since Home Instead Senior Care started the program in 2003 in areas all around the country, there have been more than 60,000 volunteers who helped distribute gifts, 1.2 million gifts provided to deserving seniors and 700,000 seniors whose holiday was brightened.
In the Clark County area, there are currently 19 locations participating in the Be a Santa to a Senior program. Here is a list of those locations:
- Banner Bank, 3100 SE 164th Ave., Vancouver
- Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce, 422 NE 4th Ave., Camas
- Clark County Courthouse, 1200 Franklin St., Vancouver
- Clark County Prosecutor’s Office, 1013 Franklin St., Vancouver
- Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, 1101 Broadway, Vancouver
- Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital, 2211 NE 139th St., Vancouver
- Marshall Community Center, 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd., Vancouver
- Mill Creek Pub, 1710 SW 9th Ave., Battle Ground
- Riverview Bank – 162nd, 19014-E NE 162nd Ave., Vancouver
- Riverview Bank – 192nd branch, 320 SE 192nd Ave., Vancouver
- Riverview Bank – Battle Ground, 15 NW 13th Ave., Battle Ground
- Riverview Bank – Camas, 700 NE 4th Ave., Camas
Senior citizens from all around the Clark County area who might not otherwise receive gifts this holiday season will be able to take home some special gifts they receive through the Be a Santa to a Senior program. Photo from the Be a Santa to a Senior Facebook page - Riverview Bank – Downtown, 900 Washington St., Vancouver
- Riverview Bank – Fourth Plain, 11505-K NE Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver
- Riverview Bank – Hazel Dell, 1220 NE 88th St., Vancouver
- Riverview Bank – Salmon Creek, 800 N. Tenney Road, Vancouver
- Salmon Creek Plastic Surgery, 13712 NE 10th Ave., Vancouver
- The Quarry Senior Living, 415 SE 177th Ave., Vancouver
- Washington Federal, 13411 SE Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver
- Firstenburg Community Center, 700 NE 136th Ave., Vancouver
Donate to the Be a Santa to Senior program by visiting www.beasantatoasenior.com/donate/. Visit the Be a Santa to a Senior Facebook page for additional information and to see photos.
