A Cochrane woman has stepped up to make sure seniors are not forgotten this holiday season.
“My grandparents are in Victoria so I can relate – life gets busy and it can be hard to visit over the holiday season so this really hit home for me,” said Melanie Meert, Adopt-A-Grandparent organizer.
This is the second year Meert will be hosting the event, asking residents and guests to donate $20 towards a gift package for seniors in the area.
The monetary donation will buy a hand lotion – and with every hand lotion purchased Meert will also donate one – and a handwritten note to be delivered to seniors at the Bethany Cochrane seniors centre in December.
Meert was inspired to launch the event last year after working at the care centre and seeing how lonely some of the seniors were.
“A lot of seniors are not visited, and I understand life gets busy but this is something we can do to make them feel special,” she said.
Last year the campaign kicked off late in the holiday season and despite not anticipating a lot of participants, Meert said she was absolutely surprised when they were able to deliver over 80 gifts to seniors.
“Thank you in advance to anyone who decides to purchase and participate in doing something special for a senior,” Meert wrote in a social media post.
This year Meert’s goal is to deliver gifts to 125 seniors but is encouraging individuals to donate even after the goal is met because there are other care centres in need of gift donations that any overflow would go toward.
The deadline to donate is Dec. 15. For more information or to participate, email Melanie Meert at [email protected].
