By Chris Fish
cfish@hometownnewsol.com
BREVARD - With the season of giving quickly approaching, the Brevard County District 5 Commission Office has joined hands with senior organization Aging Solutions Inc. for its annual "Elves for Elders" campaign.
"The Elves for Elders" campaign is designed to benefit individuals served by Aging Solutions, which is a program that provides care for seniors deemed "incapacitated" by the sate, and is a branch of the Florida Public Guardians.
Aging Solutions currently has a wish list for each of the 83 seniors within its care, which will be helped distributed by the District 5 Office, Space Coast Credit Union locations throughout Brevard County, as well as a booth located in Historic Downtown Melbourne for the Family Fest on Friday, Nov. 9, at 5 p.m.
Participants will be given a list for a specific senior with items that he or she would like to receive for the holidays. Items are not luxurious but meet basic needs, such as socks, pajamas, robes, sweatpants, lotions, soaps, bras and underwear.
"This is our first time teaming with aging solutions, and we really want to help out the seniors throughout the community," said Danielle Stern, community affairs specialist for the District 5 Commission Office and Commissioner Andy Anderson. "It has really impacted us knowing how many seniors who are wards of the state have no family. With Aging Solutions appointed as guardians, housing is paid for, but actual prescriptions and necessities are not."
"'Elves for Elders' is not just for the holidays. It is to support our wards throughout the year," Ms. Mathisen said. "Transportation can be from $40 to $300 to get them to an appointment."
Ms. Mathisen said the smallest items can make a big difference in the lives of the seniors, such as shampoos and word puzzles.
People may also donate money through the Aging Solutions website. The money received will be used to pay for the prescriptions of the seniors in need throughout the Space Coast.
In a press release, Commissioner Anderson said that, once he realized how many seniors needed care in his own district, as well as throughout Brevard County, he knew he needed to do something to help them as soon as possible.
"In the Commission's workshop on aging this past summer, my eyes were opened to the number of senior citizens living in my district and the challenges they face on a daily basis, whether it be financial, mental or physical," he said. "I decided right then and there that I wanted to help."
To make a donation, call the District 5 Commission Office at (321)253-6611, or call Becky Mathisen at (321)208 6245.
To make a donation, visit www.aging-solutions.org.