Are you fortunate enough to have fond memories of your grandparents? Most of us can bring to mind a special cookie baking day with grandma or maybe the first hunting or fishing trip with grandpa. Those irreplaceable memories can bring a big smile to your face for sure. Perhaps you never knew your grandparents; yet one is waiting for you with outstretched arms. Now you have the opportunity to bring a big smile to the face of a grandparent.
The Riverbank Cares Committee, Westamerica Bank in Riverbank and O’Brien’s Market are joining forces again this holiday season to keep a tradition alive: Adopt a Grandparent.
Visit O’Brien’s Market or the WestAmerica Bank branch in Crossroads Shopping Center and you will find “ornaments” on the Christmas tree giving you information for a senior resident of the Riverbank Care Facility; their needs or wants are also included. Once you select the senior you want to adopt this holiday season, it is important to record your choice with the staff of the market or the bank. This will allow for tracking so no one is left out. As you go about your holiday shopping, purchase the gifts and return them to the market or the bank, unwrapped, in a gift bag. Gifts should be returned no later than Dec. 10. It is important that the “ornament” be returned also since Santa has an official check list. The gifts will be sorted and readied for delivery when the seniors will enjoy a holiday party.
The need is always greater than the previous year; more of our population is living longer and not equipped to care for themselves, said program officials. The commitment from the community will be vital in caring for each person.
Carla Strong, who initiated the program in honor of her late husband, said giving a little can go a long way.
“My mother lived in North Carolina and on many occasions spent the Christmas season in a care facility. Every day when I called she would tell me how much it meant to have visitors. I would always hear a smile in her voice when she told me about the small gifts that appeared on her bedside table when she awoke, or returned from therapy,” Strong noted. “I lost my mother and husband six years ago so it is particularly important to me to continue this program.”
It is amazing how small the requests are, she added, including lotion, a lap blanket, radio, coloring books, slippers or a bottle of perfume. For those who do not have time to do the shopping, cash donations are accepted and the organizers will do the shopping for you.
For additional information, contact Westamerica Bank at 869-2469 or stop by O’Brien’s Market in Riverbank.
