SANTA’S SECRET SERVICE HELPS OVER 2,100 LONELY CALGARY SENIORS
Most people spend Christmas with their family or close friends but some people are not so lucky. Santa’s Secret Service, established in 1985, looks after the seniors who have no family or friends to spend the holidays with. Anonymous donors selflessly provide personalized gifts for individuals 60 years or older who are alone or isolated in the Calgary communities.
“In the first year, Santa’s Secret Service provided 10 gifts to seniors at a single care facility, and it was made possible by the generosity of one individual that saw the need,” comments Lisa from the organization.
“Since that time, Santa’s Secret Service became a registered charity, and has grown each year to its current size of over 2,100 senior recipients, 350 volunteer Santas, and over a hundred care providers.”
Calgary’s population growth is among the fastest in Canada and demographic changes means a rising need for seniors’ services, increasing the number of lonely seniors. The Secret Services’ mission is to ensure that no senior is left out at Christmas time. They accomplish this by acquiring the participation of all local caregivers and engaging the community in the volunteer effort.
“Our vision is to become the premiere not-for-profit organization in Western Canada, delivering joy, happiness and a sense of community to isolated seniors, one gift at a time. As such, we hope to expand the organization to at least one other major city outside of Calgary. We also plan to continue to grow the program in Calgary and the surrounding area by identifying as many recipients as we can to be part of both the Christmas and birthday program,” explained Lisa.
Every year, members of seniors’ groups, housing facilities, outreach programs and health care providers from around the city provide anonymous personal profiles of secluded seniors, indicating their age, gender, hobbies, needs and preferences. After the profiles are reviewed they are distributed to Secret Santa’s who purchase personalized gifts for their anonymous senior. They spend what they feel is appropriate.
Following the Secret Santa shopping deadline, the gifts are brought to a warehouse, where volunteer elves sort them. The special elves make sure that each gift matches the senior for whom it is intended and that no one is left out and include a special card with a greeting from Santa.
When all the gifts have been sorted, they’re delivered to the participating caregivers and distributed to each of their profiled seniors. No one should be alone on Christmas and Santa’s Secret Service spread their love each year to those who need it most.
Initially a grass roots organization that hired temporary staff each season to coordinate the gift giving process, and operated out of the basements and garages of board members, Santa’s Secret Service now has a year round staff and its own office space, and both a birthday and Christmas program. For more information about volunteer opportunities for next Christmas check out the Santa’s Secret Service web site.
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