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Local CHP Gives Seniors An Early Christmas

OAKHURST– Cheer was in the air as the Oakhurst Area CHP joined with community volunteers to deliver gifts to 66 seniors at the Oakhurst Healthcare & Wellness Centre and 11 seniors at the Oakhurst Board & Care for the Elderly on Monday afternoon.

Volunteers including parents and children, and a handful of CHP officers arrived in festive Elf and Santa hats, with a wagon full of gifts ready for delivery.

The CHP program “Be a Santa to a Senior” started collecting gifts three weeks prior to delivering them to the homes. The gift bags included, puzzles, word searches, scarves, sock caps, sweat pants or sweat shirts, and lap blankets.

The CHP Office and CVS store in Oakhurst have been displaying special Christmas trees and the public was invited to select an ornament from the tree, then purchase one of the listed gift items.

Shannon Castonguay, who coordinated with the CHP, was thrilled with the results of Monday’s event.

“The outcome was overwhelming,” she said. “We had trees come in from Starbucks, CVS, and our office. It’s really great that so many people helped out this year.”

Inside the Oakhurst Healthcare & Wellness Centre, resident Richard Champion of Oakhurst was excited about the Christmas presents he received.

“This was an amazing gift,” said Champion. “The Lord knows I needed slippers, and now I even have a very soft, new blanket.”

Although he didn’t grow up in the area, Champion has lived in Oakhurst for about 10 years and had really nice things to say about his adopted town.

“I love this community and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. There are so many great programs that everyone can participate in, and our CHP team does a great job at everything they do.”

Another resident commented as she was being handed a gift, saying “I should be giving you a gift, instead of you giving me one!”

Every senior who received a gift were very thankful that Christmas, in fact, came early this year.

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Sierra News Online

Sierra News Online