Christmas for Seniors makes sure elderly get gifts
Words have a way of impacting people when they least expect it. Sometimes they lead to change, ways of motivating others or even tearing them down.
But the best ones often lead to helping others — in more ways than they can imagine.
There have been countless individuals Sandy Morris has crossed paths with who didn’t realize they would change people’s lives in Kern County.
There was once an elderly woman, “no bigger than a minute ... who always had her wig on crooked,” who said if money was not an issue she would buy herself dryer sheets so that her clothes wouldn’t stick together.
Once she came across a World War II veteran who said, “If I had shaving cream, my face would be as soft as a baby’s bottom,” but instead he uses soap because it’s cheaper.
She even saw a woman hug a four-pack of two-ply toilet paper, a luxury item to so many that she could not afford.
These moments said a lot to Morris, who was previously a safety trainer with the Bakersfield Police Department, about the way senior citizens live in Kern County. Dryer sheets, shaving cream and toilet paper might not seem like much, but they led to the formation of Christmas for Seniors of Kern County.
In almost 15 years, the program has made sure low-income, homebound and isolated senior citizens receive presents and feel loved during the holidays.
“There has not been a bag that went out of here for a man that did not have shaving cream,” explained Morris. “If we run out of shaving cream we stop. If we run out of dryer sheets we stop and go shop.”
Seniors choose a gift that costs $20 to $25 and community members “adopt” them for the holiday season. Items most seniors ask for include robes, slippers, blankets and socks.
In addition to their gift, they receive a sundry that includes items such as shampoo, deodorant and soap. Even the senior’s pets get goodies.
About 1,300 seniors are being helped this holiday season from independent living facilities throughout Kern County.
It takes about 5,000 volunteers to make a project like this successful year after year.
“Unless we do something for them, they’re not going to have a Christmas,” Morris said. “They’re kind of a forgotten society in today’s world. It’s something we need to worry about.”
Volunteers were hard at work Dec. 5 sorting through donations they received during the Dec. 4 Stuff the Bus donation drive, which raised $4,000 and brought in thousands of items.
Personal hygiene products filled almost every space of the organization’s 13129 Rosedale Highway headquarters.
“It’s very fulfilling work,” said Darla Stolte, who has returned for her third year of volunteering. Putting gifts together is meaningful — on Dec. 5 she was stuffing crocheted sacks with a bar of soap — but nothing beats delivering gifts to senior citizens. When she went her first year, an elderly woman “couldn’t stop crying” when she received her gift.
“I’ll stand by the car,” she remembers saying, knowing she would start crying too. But even at a distance it’s still an emotional day.
There are still plenty of elders and their pets who can be adopted before Christmas. Now that she’s retired, Esther Chanley-Martinez has been striving to do more volunteer work, and this was one organization that stood out since her grandfather received help from a similar program in Los Angeles. She found three individuals who have pets — “I’m a huge dog lover,” she said — on Dec. 5 and was hoping to find one more.
Each of the individuals were hoping for a heated blanket or robe for Christmas.
“A senior’s asking for a blanket, how sad is that,” Chanley-Martinez said. “When there are people in our community that can’t afford toilet paper, something’s wrong ... might as well spend my money on something worthwhile.”
Donations are still being accepted through Dec. 20. Items most needed include ladies razor blades, bar soap, hand sanitizer, socks and large print books.
“The notes we get back from the seniors say they feel like somebody cares about them,” Morris said. “We’re just trying to thank them for all that they’ve done.”