Stuff a Stocking for a Senior initiative returns to Streamway Villa

All residents of the Cobourg LTC home received stockings filled with small gifts on Christmas Day, thanks to local project

Streamway Villa residents returned to their rooms after breakfast on Christmas Day morning to find traditional Santa stockings filled with small gifts, courtesy of the Stuff a Stocking for a Senior initiative.

Since 2017, Stuff a Stocking for a Senior, a Christmastime charity launched by friends Vicky Davis of Cobourg and Lynn Stewart Orangeville, has sent Christmas stockings and small presents to long-term care and retirement homes across Northumberland County during the holiday season.

Through the campaign, donations are collected from the community and then Christmas stockings and presents are bought for the residents of the homes the program serves.

In 2018, Vicky told The OMNIway she was inspired to start the program while visiting her mother, who was living at a long-term care home. She said she noticed some residents were not getting family visits during the holidays and saw an opportunity to make a difference.

She then contacted Lynn, who had many years’ experience organizing a Christmas hamper and stocking-stuffing program for Orangeville seniors, to suggest working together to extend the stocking-stuffing program to Cobourg.

Streamway Villa residents found a wide variety of gifts in their stockings this year, says Laurie Kracht, the home’s life enrichment co-ordinator.

Some of the many gifts residents received included teddy bears, activity books, nail polish, toiletries and chocolates. “The residents loved their presents,” Laurie tells The OMNIway, adding Streamway Villa residents and team members are grateful for the Stuff a Stocking for a Senior initiative as well as for the other community members and organizations that showed support for the home over the holidays.

“It’s always a special treat for them on Christmas Day.”

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