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One in five of our senior neighbors either live alone, are homebound, or are on a fixed income and often cannot provide themselves with the things they need. Their experience and knowledge also goes underappreciated.

The Santa for Seniors program works to reverse that by honoring and recognizing our seniors as vital members of our community. Our program reignites the joy of the holidays and connects our seniors with the community. We also work with partners throughout the Pacific Northwest to bring much needed and meaningful gifts year round and to provide resources to isolated seniors.

While we enjoy bringing joy to and celebrating our seniors, we also want to combat isolation. We are building community awareness and gathering people around our seniors to build a bridge between generations. We have partnered with local organizations and minority businesses to provide comforting gifts or baked goods throughout the year. We are especially thrilled when the wisdom of our seniors is met with the curiosity and wonder of our youth. For example, the cards and ornaments made by children brighten our seniors’ day. Elementary schools, various clubs, and youth groups, have joined us in item drives, gift assemblies, and events such as the Tacoma Santa Parade.

Make a Card and/or Decorate an Ornament for a Senior

Looking for a creative and safe way to help our community?

The pandemic has been challenging for each and every one of us. It has brought even more isolation to our seniors, making it more difficult to connect with them. Santa for Seniors collects homemade cards, letters, artwork and ornaments to give to our isolated seniors. This is a simple way to cheer up someone’s day and let them know they’re in people’s hearts and minds throughout the year and holiday season.

We can also provide card making kits and ornament kits if you need supplies. Email santaforseniors@lcsnw.org for more information.

Join us for Tacoma’s Santa Parade

Santa for Seniors participates in Tacoma’s annual Santa Parade in December.  This is a fun family event where everyone can enjoy live entertainment, local food and merchandise vendors, street performers, carolers and Santa!

Find us at our Santa for Seniors booth at the next Tacoma Santa Parade in December!  Join in on fun family activities and make a holiday card or decorate ornaments for seniors in our community.  Bring your family, friends and neighbors and walk in the parade with us!  

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We all know the feeling that isolation brought during the height of the pandemic. However, some people experienced that kind of deep isolation before COVID ever began and will continue to be alone even after the pandemic ends. One-fourth of seniors are similarly isolated on a regular basis while nearly half of our Northwest seniors report chronic loneliness. The loneliness is devastating and physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing. Seniors in our community need our support more than ever. We provide gifts throughout the year, building a bridge to the services and connection our seniors need, but we need your help!

Ways you can help are:

• Volunteer
• Make a Donation
• Donate to our Wish List
• Host an Item Drive
• Make Cards and/or Ornaments (we can provide you with kits)
• Look for our Tree of Caring in your local church or store

Visit Volunteer Opportunities to inquire about in person opportunities (individual and small groups) and other ways to volunteer. Questions? Please call us at 253-722-5684 or email santaforseniors@lcsnw.org.

Santa for Seniors relies on people like you to help share the spirit of the holidays with our senior neighbors. Whether it’s stuffing gift bags, delivering gifts, dressing up as Santa or an elf, donating, or hosting an item drive, we have many options for individuals, families, groups and corporations to get involved.

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Assemble gift bags
• Be Santa or Santa’s Elves (inquire)
• Participate in the Tacoma Santa Parade (December)

Corporate Opportunities:

• Donate overstock or undamaged returns
• Provide a gift card
• Organize a corporate volunteer activity
• Advertise with swag
• Set up a Tree of Caring

Donations Accepted:

• Make a donation from our Wish List
• Donate money
• Host an item drive
• Sponsor a senior
• Become a corporate sponsor by donating items to our senior neighbors. Contact us!

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Santa for Seniors started with the vision of William Looney. 

While visiting his mother in her nursing home during the holidays, Bill Looney saw firsthand how many people didn’t have family or friends coming to visit. He took it upon himself to change that, and he and his wife Trudy began dressing up as Santa and Mrs. Claus to pass out gifts to those residents.

When Bill Looney passed in 2015, his family created the William A. Looney Family Foundation and they partnered with Lutheran Community Services Northwest and gifted 165 homebound seniors in Pierce County.  

Our program kicked off in 2017 by gifting 778 seniors in Pierce County.  Every year, we have increased the number of seniors who receive meaningful gifts and have also expanded into ten Washington counties including Pierce, King, Kitsap, Clallam, Jefferson, Thurston, Mason, Snohomish, Cowlitz and Clark, as well as Multnomah and Clatsop counties in Oregon.

During the pandemic, seniors needed this more than ever and we successfully exceeded our goal and gifted 4,200 seniors during the 2021 holiday season.

We provide year round acknowledgement, including spring and fall gifts as well as birthday boxes, and our goal is to reach even more seniors throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Dozens of partnerships with local agencies connect us with seniors who are homebound, isolated, and potentially economically challenged.

Santa for Seniors is made possible by the generosity of the William A. Looney Family Foundation and community members.  In April 2022, we received a generous $15 million gift to expand Santa for Seniors nationally, with a goal to reach 100,000 isolated seniors in the next 10 years. This exceptional gift will sustain Bill Looney’s legacy that every senior feel remembered, not forgotten.

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Santa for Seniors relies on a robust network of partners to reach as many isolated seniors as possible.  We couldn’t do our work without them!

In 2021, we partnered with 36 local organizations including:

• Disciples Terrace – a United Church Homes Affordable Housing Community
• Full Life Care
• Kitsap Meals on Wheels
  
• Marymount Manor
• Mercy Housing
• Northwest Retirement Center
• Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP)
• Peninsula Housing Authority
• St. Andrew’s Place Assisted Living Community, Port Angeles
• Senior Services for South Sound
• The Mustard Seed Project of Key Peninsula

For us to consider your agency/organization as a new partner, please fill out the New Recipient Partnership Form and mail, email or fax applications to:

Santa for Seniors
Lutheran Community Services Northwest
3848 S. Junett Street
Tacoma, WA  98409
Fax: (253) 597-6456
Email:  santaforseniors@lcsnw.org

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Thank you for your interest in Santa for Seniors.  We have many opportunities for
community involvement, including:

• Partnering
• Volunteering
• Sponsoring a Senior
• Hosting an Item Drive
• Donating to our Wish List
• Becoming a Corporate Sponsor

For more information on how to get involved with Santa for Seniors, please call 253-722-5684 or submit the form below. Visit Volunteer Opportunities to inquire about in person opportunities (individual and small groups) and other ways to volunteer.

Sign up here to recieve our Santa for Seniors Newsletter.

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