Noon Exchange Club directs Christmas giving toward seniors

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON

Noon Exchange Club members Rita Ramsey, left, and Kelly Basham pack up some gift boxes for the club?s new Christmas for the Elderly program which began this year.

McMinnville?s Noon Exchange Club has added a new twist to its Christmas giving program this holiday season. In addition to the Christmas Shopping Spree for kids, the local organization has extended its gift-giving to senior citizens, according to Noon Exchange president Tammy Vinson.

?We?re calling this Christmas for the Elderly,? said Vinson. ?We decided to add this as a project at Christmastime. We normally do the children?s Christmas, so this year we wanted to do something for the elderly citizens of Warren County.?

Club officers asked for help in finding people to receive the packages, and were steered toward a good source of information.

?Most of the recipients come from the housing authority,? Vinson said.

The boxes contained a number of items designed to be both functional and fun.

?There are some health and hygiene items,? Vinson said. ?There are snack items like chocolate-covered cherries, sugar cookies, juice, chips, raisins, Little Debbie cakes, packaged peanut butter and crackers, apple sauce and candy canes for a Christmas touch. We also have gloves and socks for the women and gloves for the men.?

Vinson said Noon Exchange members decided to extend the Christmas giving program to include the elderly because this is a segment of the population that can sometimes be forgotten at Christmastime.

?I think it?s important to include them,? Vinson said, ?because I think the elderly may get left out, especially those who may not have family, or maybe has family but they live away from McMinnville, so this is just a little something to show them there are people out there thinking about them at this time of year and that they are not alone.?