Friday March 29th, 2024 11:01AM

Meals on Wheels and Gainesville Police partner for holiday donation drive

By Austin Eller News Director

Meals on Wheels of Gainesville-Hall County and the Gainesville Police Department have partnered for Secret Santa for Seniors, a blanket and sock drive for senior citizens in the county.

Stepheine Hood, Meals on Wheels supervisor for Gainesville-Hall County, said they had a great turnout when the program was first held in 2020, and they are hoping for more community involvement in 2021.

“We do have a goal of trying to collect 460 blankets and socks, and that would be able to supply each one of our meals on wheels clients with both … a blanket and a pair of socks,” Hood said.

Hood said the idea for the program first got off the ground when the Gainesville Police Department reached out to Meals on Wheels with the interest of collaborating for a community program.

“We also had the Cresswind Community here in Gainesville want to help out, and so they financially made some contributions to help buy whatever blankets and socks were needed to complete the process for us to be able to supply all of our clients,” Hood said.

The community is asked to donate brand new blankets and socks for men or women at one of two donation sites. One donation site is in the main lobby of the Gainesville Police Department at 701 Queen City Parkway. The second donation site is at the Community Service Center at 430 Prior St. SE.

Meals on Wheels and the Gainesville Police Department are accepting blanket and sock donations until Dec. 10, 2021.

Aside from the Secret Santa for Seniors program, Meals on Wheels is also seeking volunteers for its meal delivery routes.

“We do have open orientation via Zoom right now the second and fourth Wednesday of each month,” Hood said. “Anyone interested in volunteering I ask that they please give Kevin Monge, our volunteer coordinator a call.”

Monge can be reached at 770-503-3339.

Any seniors interested in becoming a client of Meals on Wheels in Gainesville-Hall County should contact Legacy Link at 770-538-2650. 

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News
  • Associated Tags: Gainesville Police Department, Meals on Wheels, donation, Secret Santa for Seniors
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