HIGH COUNTRY — In December 2022 W.A.M.Y. Community Action held their fourth “Santa for Seniors” gift drive. With support from local businesses, organizations, and individuals W.A.M.Y. distributed 1,431 holiday gift bags to senior citizens staying in assisted living facilities, living in hospice care or homebound. Presents were delivered in-person by local volunteers and included items such as blankets, puzzle books, lotion, lip balm, candies and treats.
“During the Holiday season, senior citizens who are shut-in and cannot leave their home are often overlooked,” said W.A.M.Y.’s Director of Development Allison Jennings.
W.A.M.Y.’s Community Housing Coordinator Melanie Jirka poses with gifts ready to be delivered.
W.A.M.Y. gift giving_3
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More than 3,500 gifts have been delivered since the start of the program in 2019.
“The goal was to make sure our shut-in senior neighbors received a gift of holiday cheer,” said Jennings.
Thanks to many sponsors, including The High Country Council of Governments and Agency on Aging, Boone Walmart, Mast General Store, Savored Moments Travel, Adam Galleher Memorial Fund, Bank of America, Crossnore Presbyterian Church, Baird’s Creek Presbyterian Church, Pineola Presbyterian Church, Spruce Pine UMC, Linville Land Harbor, Mountain Air Community, Town of Boone Police Department, Watauga County Sheriff’s Office, Skyline/Skybest, Peak Insurance, Go Postal of Boone and many individual donors, W.A.M.Y.’s “Santa for Seniors” project continues to be a success.
“W.A.M.Y. is already preparing for 2023 and we are grateful for continued community partnerships and supporters. Without local assistance and volunteers, spreading joy to our senior neighbors would not be possible. We look forward to a new year of helping people and changing lives,” Jennings said.
W.A.M.Y.’s intake specialist Starli McDowell poses with gifts.
W.A.M.Y. gift giving_2
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W.A.M.Y. Community Action was established in 1964 and serves individuals in Watauga, Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties. W.A.M.Y. is a Community Action Agency and was the first human-service nonprofit to come to the High Country’s four-county area. Their mission is to partner with families and communities to provide the disadvantaged the support they need to become self-sufficient. The organization conducts a community needs assessment every three years and programs are designed according to the needs of the community. Currently the nonprofit has four programs — youth development, food and nutrition, housing and energy and total family development.
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Thanks to modern technologies, you and more people are reading the Watauga Democrat than ever before. Freedom of the press is essential to preserving democracy: But a free press isn't free. It takes significant resources for Mountain Times Publications' 8 full-time journalists and editors to provide credible, fact-based and ethical journalism in the High Country. So, we are asking you to join our advertisers and print subscribers in supporting local journalism with your dollar. Your financial support will help sustain these services that you use to inform your decisions and engage with your community.
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