For 13 years, a local charity has been bringing holiday cheer to the elderly in the Halton region, through a program called ‘be a Santa to a senior’.

“It’s not a good time of year to be alone, you need company, you need some socialization, and that’s what we provide.”

Scott Johnson is the managing director of Home Instead Senior Care and runs the be a Santa to senior program each year.

Today, residents at Wellington Park seniors home donned festive Santa hats, sat around a glittering tree and had a little party where they got to open presents.

“A lot of the residents don’t have family in the area, they don’t have visitors at Christmas time, so it’s just nice to give back and bring them a little Christmas cheer.”

This year, Home Instead worked with local real estate agents to provide 140 presents, one for each resident in the home. A small haul of presents was delivered today for the party, the rest will be distributed room to room on Christmas morning by Santa Claus.

According to Stats Canada, as many as 1.4 million seniors report feeling lonely. Home Instead wants to make sure at Christmas, that’s not the case.