Making the Holidays Special for Local Seniors

For 12 years, Palmetto Goodwill has helped to meet the needs of disadvantaged local seniors through our Golden Angel Program. The tradition continued December 19 when Palmetto Goodwill visited the Charleston Area Senior Center to celebrate our annual holiday luncheon. More than 40 seniors joined in celebrating the joyous occasion as delicious food was served and comforting Christmas songs were sung. Plus, a surprise visit from special guest Santa Claus meant our lucky seniors were going home with some great gifts – just in time for Christmas!

 

As the cost of food and affordable housing continues to rise, many seniors struggle to make ends meet. Often, seniors will choose to sacrifice basic necessities just to get by. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 9.2% of seniors in South Carolina live at or below the poverty level as of 2019 – a figure that has risen from 8.6% in just the past year.

 

Unfortunately, disadvantaged seniors face even more obstacles during the holiday season as temperatures begin to drop and shopping demands rise. To help combat this issue, we launched the Golden Angel Program in-stores and online. Contributions collected both in-stores and online are used to provide seniors in need with blankets, gift cards for food, clothing and other necessities many of us take for granted.

 

Recently, we also invited a group of local seniors to join us for another luncheon at our administrative building in North Charleston. Once again, Santa stopped by to give our seniors comforting gifts to celebrate the holidays. Plus, we were able to take a short field trip next door to our Rivers Avenue retail store where our seniors were gifted a holiday shopping spree! In addition, Palmetto Goodwill’s Grand Strand team visited adult centers in Conway and Loris this week to host even more holiday celebrations.

 

 

For those interested in donating to the Golden Angel program, you may follow this link or visit one of our retail stores to make an in-person contribution. To stay updated on all the latest Golden Angel news, check us out on social media and be sure to follow along with the remainder of our “12 Days of Thriftmas” blog series.