Be a Santa to a Senior

Today I had the honour of cutting the ribbon to open the Home Instead Senior Care’s Resource Centre annual Be a Santa to a Senior initiative.

Below is the text of my speech today:

Thank you very much for the invitation to come here today.

What a fantastic way to give back to the community and bring joy to our seniors who are less fortunate and need our support! The Be a Santa to a Senior is already a very successful program throughout North America, with 60,000 volunteers and retail partners who have provided 1.2 million gifts to 700,000 seniors.

Thank you to Victoria Home Instead Senior Care for supporting the Be a Santa to a Senior program in our community – you’ve already made a huge difference in the lives of 1,170 seniors in Victoria thanks to the time and energy given by many people – Volunteers, Social Workers, Outreach and Care Workers – working in partnership with local businesses to make this happen.

Congratulations on your success.

It is heartwarming to know so much care and kind attention goes to our vulnerable seniors, especially at this time of year.

As your MLA, I am committed to advocate on behalf of our seniors so they have access to the services that they so richly deserve. The seniors I have spoken to are quick to point out that they want to live independently as long as possible, with timely access to needed services and social programs. I’d like to see our communities provide more ways for our seniors to remain independent, living safely and comfortably, with needed services close at hand.

Since being elected, I’ve had many meetings with seniors in our community, as well as with staff from agencies involved in the delivery of a variety of seniors’ services. My staff and I are working hard as we develop an understanding of some of the key issues affecting our community. We plan to create more opportunities for dialogue with seniors in the months ahead– to hear their concerns and receive their input and advice and learn from their wisdom.

And in particular, it’s clear that there’s a strong desire to have a one-stop shopping senior’s health care centre in our riding modeled after the previously successful Hillside Senior’s Health Care Centre next to Aberdeen Hospital.

I’ve always believed that one should treat others the way you would like others to treat you. The same goes for our seniors. As a society, we should treat our present generation of seniors with the same dignity and respect as we would like to be treated when we become seniors ourselves.

Thank you again for the invitation to attend today’s event and thank you for the tremendous support you give to our senior citizens who benefit so much for the kindness you show them.

Have a wonderful holiday season. May Santa in turn bring you the presents you so richly deserve for organizing Be a Santa to a Senior in our community.

Andrew Weaver