The winter holiday season can be a joyful and celebratory time of the year. Yet, for many elders and adults with disabilities, this time of year can be especially lonely and depressing. For many years, Buncombe County Health and Human Services has held a special holiday gift drive -- the Senior Wish Tree -- to help meet the needs of our most isolated and vulnerable adults.
The Department of Aging and Adult Services works with many agency partners to identify individuals who don't have access to a support network to help with their basic needs and are going to go through the holidays alone. Each of these individuals creates a wish list and then community members are invited to select someone they would like to shop for.
Requests often includes basic items such as food, toilet paper, postage stamps, cleaning supplies, bed linens, towels, slippers, winter caps, gloves and coats, pet food, and gifts cards to Ingles or Walmart. One year a gift requested was for a roll of quarters for the laundromat. Gift requests sometimes also include special items such as a crossword puzzle book, chocolates, or a cookbook.
Social Work Supervisor, Roxann Sizemore, who coordinates the Senior Wish Tree, writes, “I personally find such enjoyment coordinating this program and look forward to it each year. It not only brings joy to me, but to the agencies who submit names, the people who select names and the recipients of the gifts.”
She continues, “I remember the first year we had the program we were unsure if the adults would think it was silly or if they would like the gifts. We were so pleased to see the excitement when the gifts were delivered. Some wanted to open their packages immediately, while others were determined to hold on to them during the holiday and open them later. All recipients were surprised that someone cared about them enough to purchase them a special gift.”
This year’s Senior Wish Tree is electronic and is available here. Please consider selecting an individual (or more!) to shop for.
Once you sign up, you will receive a confirmation email with additional information, and a reminder email before the drop-off period. Wrapped gifts will be collected at the Buncombe County Health and Human Services building at 40 Coxe Avenue December 8, 9 and 10 between the hours of 8am and 5pm.
For more questions, or to schedule an alternative drop-off time, please contact Roxann Sizemore at 828-250-5721 or roxann.sizemore@buncombecounty.org
The Senior Wish Tree has a long track record of success because of our many Age-Friendly partners and the generosity of our Age-Friendly community. Let’s help keep that record going this year. Click here to sign up.
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