Bulloch County senior citizens, who are members of the Action Pact Senior Center, celebrated Christmas this week with a Christmas party and gifts from the community at the center on Granade Street.
The party included a Christmas program with the reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Alex Smith, Director of the Senior Center, music from the Statesboro Action Pact Choir, gifts and a delicious Christmas lunch.
The highlight of the party was the distribution of gifts. Every senior received a gift thanks to the generosity of our community.
The majority of the gifts came from the Holiday Helper Tree at Georgia Southern. Senior citizens in the program made request for Christmas. Those request were placed in tags that were placed on the actual tree and the virtual tree.
Action Pact Statesboro Choir
Community steps up for seniors
A few weeks before they deadline was reached for the helpers tree, Smith was notified that only 20 of the 50 tags have been pulled off the tree. Grice Connect published another call for help from all of you and all 50 tags were pulled.
In addition to the seniors that attend the four day a week program, over 100 senior citizens are assisted by the program through the meals on wheels program which is managed by the Action Pact Senior Center.
Contributions and gifts were also made possible thanks to the generous contributions of:
- Statesboro YMCA
- Statesboro Summit Apartments
- GS Transportation Department
- Dr. Allison Rushing, GS Nursing program
"We are really grateful for everyone in the community that contributed to or purchased gifts for our seniors," said Alex Smith, Director. "For many of them this will be the only gift they receive for Christmas. Our program provides most of them the majority of the social interaction and support they receive not only during the holidays but year round."
These senior adults lived productive lives in our community and have done so much for so many of us. It is wonderful to see the community repay them in a small way for their contributions to our community through the years.
Volunteers and Storage Needed
Smith said the center is always looking for volunteers of all ages to assist with the senior programs throughout the year. One pressing need the center has is storage space on site. They are having to store items they use in with the seniors in their offices because they are out of space. An storage building would be very helpful to them.
If you would like to learn more about the program, volunteering or helping with the storage building need you can contact Alex Smith or a member of his team at 912-489-1604.
