Many older elderly people in our community will be spending their Christmas alone which makes for a sad and lonely time of year for them. Notre Dame Church is sponsoring their Fourth Annual Angel Tree Program for Seniors event to help brighten the holidays for Seniors in the area.

“These seniors are all in their own homes and we feel really blessed to reach out to this population,” said Event Organizer, Nancy Labahan. “This year we have 489 ornaments, last year we had 369 and the community was just wonderful, we had 600 presents go out the door.” The program works very closely with both Carbon and Emery County Senior Centers as well as United Way of Eastern Utah. This year organizers have incorporated pet needs for those senior pet owners that just need a little assistance in that arena.

Ideas that some Seniors may need consist of lap blankets, slippers, puzzle books, gloves and hats and surprisingly quite a few of the elderly want just a gift card to the grocery store to get food. “Think of things that you would like for your mom and dad or grandma and grandpa and maybe when you are buying for them, buy a little extra,” said Labahn. The annual charity event hopes to bring much needed holiday cheer to local elderly citizens that otherwise may not be recognized during Christmas.

To pick an Angel from the tree is quite simple, as explained by Labahan, “They are in our community building The Hope Center on Carbon Avenue, during the week you can come in and get an ornament and bring back a wrapped package.” Office hours are 9:00 am to 1:00 pm Monday through Friday and 5:30 to 7:00 pm on Tuesday evenings.

All wrapped gifts, accompanied by the Angel Tree tag are to be returned to The Hope Center on Carbon Avenue on or before December 10. Santa’s Elves have arranged to make time from their busy schedule to make delivers on December 15. If you would like to help the elves you may call Nancy at 637-6195.