TULSA, Okla. — Meals on Wheels is known for delivering meals to the homebound, especially seniors.
This holiday season, they will also deliver gifts. It's part of a program called "Be A Santa To A Senior."
There are also ways for the community to pitch in.
The Tulsa and Owasso branches of the senior care company Home Instead are partnering together with Meals on Wheels Metro Tulsa to deliver holiday goodie bags to area seniors along with their meals.
These goodie bags will include both functional and fun items such as activity books, flashlights, blankets, some easy-to-use jar openers, as well as some calendars.
"But, where the community support comes in is," Home Instead owner Michael Boyd said, "we have trees located at Arvest Banks throughout the area, in Owasso and Tulsa, and that's where the collection is."
"So, you can go to find a tree and get a bulb just like this," he said. "It's got a list of items; all the lists are the same. And you can go out to a local store, buy those items, bring them back to either Meals on Wheels or an Arvest Bank. And then, they'll be picked up."
If people are unable to buy or drop off those gifts in person but still want to help out, there are other ways.
There's a QR code on the back of those paper cut-out bulbs. When people scan that, it will take them directly to an online Amazon gift list, which people can click here to view. They can purchase those items there, which will then be sent directly to Meals on Wheels.
Home Instead and Meals on Wheels want to collect all these gifts by Dec. 15, but they expect some late drop-offs.
The holidays can be a lonely time of year for some people, particularly seniors. A local Meals on Wheels official said it's an issue they noticed.
"We have a lot of clients who don't have any kind of family, friends, or anyone else who's going to visit them during the holidays," said Colleen Stice, a client care manager at Meals on Wheels Metro Tulsa.
"They may not be getting any kind of gifts from anyone or seeing any other smiling faces, except for our ours," she said. "So, being able to give them something that they can do, something they can have fun with, and something that they can use is really important to them."
- Previous coverage >>> Meals on Wheels in Tulsa opens new facility
Running "Be A Santa To A Senior" locally and nationally since 2004, this will be the first year Home Instead partners with Tulsa's Meals on Wheels.
Boyd said staff from Home Instead will tag along for the deliveries. He mentioned that, on those trips, they see how these gifts can brighten a senior's day.
"And when they're just getting a meal, they're waiting for us. Some of them are sitting on the porch," he said. "They want to have a conversation."
"So, I can't wait to see their faces when we actually are bringing a gift. [It's] more than a meal, right?" Boyd said. "We're bringing them gifts and a smile and a little bit of holiday cheer and fighting that social isolation that so many senior face during the holidays."
People can find the trees at these select Arvest Bank locations:
- Owasso North (13716 E 106th St N, Owasso, OK 74055)
- Owasso 76th Street (11501 E 76th St N, Owasso, OK 74055
- 43rd & Garnett (4301 S Garnett Rd, Tulsa, OK 74146)
- 31st & Mingo (9701 E 31st St, Tulsa, OK 74146)
- Jenks (410 S Elm St, Jenks, OK 74037)
- Bixby (11032 S Memorial Dr, Tulsa, OK 74133)
- 51st & Vandalia (4548 E 51st St, Tulsa, OK 74136)
- 61st & Lynn Lane, Broken Arrow (2251 N 9th St, Broken Arrow, OK 74012)
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