MENDOTA - For many years, Mendota Area Senior Services (MASS) worked with Home Instead Senior Care in Peru and their Be A Santa to a Senior program.
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MENDOTA - For many years, Mendota Area Senior Services (MASS) worked with Home Instead Senior Care in Peru and their Be A Santa to a Senior program. The program provides gifts to seniors who may not otherwise receive any presents during the holiday season.
MASS director Rayanne Sester explained that this year, Home Instead decided to take a year off. “So, we decided to do our ‘own thing’ so our seniors were not left out,” Sester said. “For many of them this is the only gift they receive.”
MASS driver Gary Stevens came up with the name “Elves for the Elderly” and MASS worked with local churches to fill the gift requests. Pastor Susan at Mendota First Presbyterian Church spear-headed the drive and trees with tags were placed at First Presbyterian and First United Methodist churches in Mendota and at the Earlville Presbyterian Church. In addition, New Covenant Assembly of God in Mendota helped by putting out a donation basket.
“The church people were very generous, taking all the tags and returning them, and also giving extra donations that have allowed us to add a few more seniors to the list,” Sester noted.
On Dec. 19, with 45 gift packages wrapped and ready for delivery, Stevens loaded them on the MASS van and began the process of bringing some holiday joy to area seniors.
