Saturday, May 4, 2024
“I had been wanting to find a way to give back to the elderly for a few years now,” Mooney said.
“The holidays can be a very depressing and lonely time for the elderly,” she said. “Some of them do not have family or friends that they see during the holidays, and few of the Meals on Wheels individuals see anyone all week other than their delivery drivers.”
After coming across an organization on TikTok called Elder Angels, Mooney realized she wanted to do something similar for our community by giving gifts to the elderly in need.
“I reached out to the founders Jenny and Tina, we had a FaceTime meeting, and they gave me the information about how they got started, ran their organization, collection and distribution tips, etc.,” she said.
The very next day, Mooney then contacted her friend, Amy Best, and began preparing for Silver Santas immediately.
“Our first initial goal was to collect enough gifts for the 59 Meals on Wheels recipients,” she said.
Partnered with the Gatesville Senior Center, Meals on Wheels is a federally-funded program that provides seniors in the community with support that allows them to remain living in their homes.
Silver Santas was advertised for a month to collect donations, as well as securing three drop off locations, which included The Salty Senorita, 1854 Mercantile, and The Feed Mill.
Both Let’s Grow Learning Center and Trinity Baptist Preschool also collected donations for the month.
“After the first week, we had well surpassed our goal,” she said. “Our next goal was to be able to cover 211 residents at both nursing homes.”
Over 2,700 individual items were donated, as well as monetary donations.
“My living room, kitchen, and dining room were overflowing,” she said.
“Coryell County came through with an incredible amount of both donations and money towards the organization to use for gift purchases,” she said. “We were blown away with support.”
Each gift had various items totaling between $15 to $20, including blankets, socks, lotion, backscratchers, lip balm, puzzle books, pens, nail files, candy, playing cards, body spray, magnifying glasses, and various other small items.
The gifts were distributed to Hillside Medical Lodge and RehabLiving at the Meadows on Sunday, Dec. 17 by Mooney, Best, Parrish, Caylee Schiff, McKenzie and Chad Newman, and a local baseball team, The Prospects.
On Monday, Dec. 18 and Tuesday, Dec. 19, gifts were passed out during the Meals on Wheels route by the delivery drivers.
“Our goal was to brighten their holiday and spread Christmas cheer,” she said. “I think we got just as much or more joy out of delivering the gifts as they did receiving them.”
When asked if Mooney had plans to do this again next year, she responded with, “absolutely.”
