Project aims to bring a ray of holiday sunshine to Saskatoon seniors

This year, some Saskatoon seniors will wake up on Christmas morning with a little something extra in their stockings.

For the seventh year in a row, long term care homes in the city will be holding the Be a Santa to a Senior event. 

During the event, seniors make a wish list of gifts they would like to receive, and post their wish lists on paper ornaments displayed on a Christmas tree at Market Mall. Then, community members buy the listed items and bring the unwrapped gifts back to the mall.

The program focuses on seniors who may be alone during the holidays.

"Christmas is for kids of all ages," said Greg Charyna, co-owner of Home Instead Senior Care. "You see a childlike delight in their eyes when you come and say, 'This gift is for you.'"

Last year, St. Ann's Senior Citizen Village joined the program. Organizers say the community response was incredible.

"There were little kids, there were seniors, there was everybody in between," said recreation director Carla Eager. "It was amazing. There was just a mountain of gifts."

For more information, call Home Instead Senior Care at 306-931-4663.