St. Paul’s Pace has been collecting donated items for its eighth annual Sundries for Seniors drive.
The holiday drive started Nov.1 and runs through Dec. 18 and encourages community members to donate sundry items or small gifts from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at its downtown San Diego location, 111 Elm St; or its Chula Vista facility at 630 L St.
This year, the program has more than 700 seniors and the goal is to give each senior a special gift package at Christmas, said Amanda Gois, corporate marketing director with St. Paul’s Pace.
“For a lot of our seniors this is the only gift they receive each year,” she said.
After the donation deadline, Gois said, St. Paul’s Pace will wrap each donation into a gift for its annual holiday party held at both locations.
At the holiday party, Gois said they will serve a traditional holiday meal to seniors with Santa and Mrs. Claus stopping by to deliver the donated gifts.
Gois said the annual holiday party means a lot to the seniors because if it weren’t for the party chances are they would be spending Christmas by themselves.
“A lot of these seniors don’t have family close by,” she said. “We noticed that a lot of them don’t have a holiday celebration, they don’t have time with family. Family are often out of town so they are lonely so we host a holiday celebration where we give the gifts to the seniors.”
Gois said she understands that there are many other holiday drives out there and she said they all deserve attention. But, she said, it’s holiday drives like this one that often get overlooked.
“A lot of the (holiday) drives are focused more on children,” she said. “And people tend to forget that there are a lot of seniors in need as well. There are some seniors in this city who are struggling and could really benefit from some kindness during the holidays.”
Gois said there are quite a few sundried items people can donate. They include: toilet paper/paper towels; shampoo/conditioner; deodorant; laundry Soap; bathing Soap; sponges; trash bags; sheets/blankets/towels/pillows; journal/notebook; bus coupons; hearing aid batteries; wrapped sugar free sweets; handbag/purse/wallet; Heater or fan; stamps; pajamas; undergarments; pens; razors, calendar; soft food items; dried and canned goods; grocery/store gift cards; gloves/scarves; and sweatpants.
