By: Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News
Santa for Seniors launched its 2025 campaign last week to connect with every senior citizen in Chatham-Kent during the Christmas holidays.
The local volunteer group encourages everyone to write cards and send gifts to seniors during this holiday season.
“With 2,000 seniors living in retirement and nursing homes, and hundreds more living on their own, we’d like each senior to get a greeting card and gift again this year,” said co-organizer Emmalee Longbottom.
Santa for Seniors is a project inspired by many other food and gift drives that took place in Chatham-Kent during the COVID pandemic.
Individuals and families are encouraged to write holiday cards and put together a package of small gift items, which will be delivered by Santa for Seniors volunteers – and Santa himself – to seniors living in retirement and nursing homes across Chatham-Kent in time for Christmas.
“Too often, the senior population is forgotten during the holiday season,” said Dava Robichaud, co-chair of the Santa for Seniors initiative, now in its sixth year. “Many seniors who live in retirement and nursing homes, as well as those who live independently, will be spending the holidays lonely and isolated.”
Robichaud said the last few years have been particularly challenging for many seniors in the community due to the restrictions in place.
“Isolation continues to be a challenge, especially for seniors, and we hope to brighten their day with some gifts and cards from every corner of Chatham-Kent,” said Robichaud.
Many families make it a weekend project to create homemade Christmas cards and put together boxes of gift items, such as toiletries, cookies, tea, puzzles, hats, gloves, stationery and other small gifts.
When completed, cards and unwrapped gifts can be dropped off at the TekSavvy Security Kiosk, 800 Richmond St. in Chatham (in the plaza next door to the McDonald’s Restaurant), or at Community Living Administration Offices in Wallaceburg at 1100 Dufferin Ave.
Volunteers will sanitize all gifts before wrapping and placing them in boxes. The deadline to submit cards and gifts is Friday, Dec. 12.
Santa for Seniors volunteers will spend the next week organizing and packing the items for delivery the week of Dec. 18-23.
Boxes and cards will be safely distributed to all retirement and nursing homes in Chatham-Kent, and cards will be included in all Meals on Wheels deliveries.
Longbottom said the community came together to provide over 5,800 greeting cards and more than 800 gifts to local seniors in the first year of the Santa for Seniors program in 2020.
Since then, over 5,275 gifts and 14,860 greeting cards have gone out to seniors, thanks to the many local residents who take the time to participate.
“Let’s come together again as a community to send out as many cards and gifts to our senior population as we can,” Robichaud said. “If you’d like to contribute, spend some time this weekend with your family and have some fun writing cards and putting together gift boxes.”
If you would like to support Santa for Seniors, you can send an email to santaforseniors@teksavvy.ca
