Angel tree to bear fruit for seniors
Published: November 18, 2005
Would-be elves are invited to pick out presents for local seniors as part of the Home for the Holidays Angel Tree program.
The tree will be on display Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Wal-Mart, 3200 Manawa Drive.
Gift ideas submitted by people in the elderly waiver program will be written on the angels, said Phyllis Mosher, public relations manager for the Visiting Nurse Association of Pottawattamie County, one of the program’s sponsors.
“People that are shopping or anyone that wants to do it, there’s going to be an angel on the tree for each one of these gifts,” she said. “People can select a gift they would like to buy, they can buy it right there at Wal-Mart and leave the gift, or they can take the angel and go buy the gift elsewhere.”
Shoppers can leave the gifts and corresponding angel at the volunteer table, and volunteers will wrap and deliver the presents.
Elves will not know the identity of the seniors who will receive their gifts, said Cally Boatwright, public relations specialist and volunteer coordinator at the VNA.
“The names of the people don’t go on the angels,” she said. “They’re given a number for confidentiality.”
The angels were made by foreign exchange students, she said.
Comfort Keepers started the program three years ago to help low-income seniors, owner Rick Magill said.
“I teamed up with the Visiting Nurse Association and Southwest 8 right away, because it’s a perfect partnership,” he said. “We’ve changed the program a little bit to include Wal-Mart and, this year, Fox Run.
“The seniors, a lot of them, this is the only gift they get. It’s sad, but yet the appreciation they show you is uplifting.”
The deadline for gifts is Dec. 2. Fox Run Assisted Living will transport the gifts to a storage area, Magill said. They will be delivered Dec. 7.
The Angel Tree will be displayed again during the VNA’s Holiday Happenings Dec. 3 at the Omni Centre Business Park.
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