Every winter the Senior Wish Association prepares 'Bags of Love' for seniors in the community who may not have the chance to see family over the holiday season.
As part of their mandate, Senior Wish assists the most vulnerable in the community — those who are alone, lonely, and have no family.
“We want to bring a little joy and happiness into their lives not only at Christmas, but all year long,” says Sharon Wice, chair of the Innisfil Senior Wish Association. “I’ve been blessed to be surrounded with a loving family and to think of seniors in our town waking up Christmas morning isolated and alone is heartbreaking.”
The Bags of Love initiative allows these seniors to feel connected with their community and gives them something to look forward to on Christmas.
“We deliver a bag full of goodies to them because we want to let them know that they’re not alone and forgotten about at Christmas time, or any other time,” says Wice.
Seniors involved with Bags of Love provide a wish list to Senior Wish so that they can get gifts that they may be in need of.
“They want a pair of socks or gloves and a hat,” says Wice. “Some of them need jogging pants or a hoodie. Just things to keep them warm and comfortable. Otherwise, we rely on the donations that we get. Of course, we also fill them with treats to satisfy their sweet tooth.”
With donation boxes around town and a grant from the town, Senior Wish is able to fulfill the wish lists of seniors involved in the Bags of Love.
“People will sometimes adopt our seniors and they’ll fill the bags, too,” says Wice. “It’s awesome when we deliver the bags and it’s quite rewarding to see the smiles on their faces.”
This year Senior Wish has partnered with Nantyr Shores Secondary School on the Bags of Love to have students make cards for the seniors and Kempenfelt Bay School adopted 16 of the seniors.
Kempenfelt Bay School students went to Walmart in Barrie to shop for gifts for their seniors to go with their handmade cards, Wice explained.
Wice would like anybody in the community who knows about a senior that may be alone this holiday season and not yet part of the Bags of Love initiative to contact her at 705-456-3316 or email her at [email protected].
