Christmas For Seniors of Kern County

NEEDED: Food delivery drivers! And food donations. Well, Christmas is behind us, but the need for help is still out there. We are continuing our response to seniors in need of FOOD. If you are interested in helping we are looking for assistance with drivers that are able to deliver food bags to fulfill the requests we are receiving. We are also in need of FOOD DONATIONS. If you cannot drive and deliver, but would like to donate food for our seniors, you can drop off donations at 6601 Niles St., Bakersfield, CA Monday - Thursday between 9am & 12pm. Any questions, please phone Sandy Morris on (661) 703-8893. Thank you for your support.

Just a sampling of some of the lovely thank you notes that we receive from our senior community. Thank you to everyone here and in the community who helped in any way in making Christmas for Seniors happen this past year. It wouldn't happen without the efforts of many, many people in our generous community. Thank you for making a difference!

The next Christmas for Seniors Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 11 at noon at the 6601 Niles St. East Bakersfield Senior Center. As we are limited to how many people can be in the building (10) due to COVID-19 restrictions, at this time only the official board members and regular members-at-large are invited in person. HOWEVER, if you have ideas, comments or questions, please feel free to leave us a message here. We are happy to receive your feedback and always appreciate your support! Thank you.

OK Bakersfield, Kern County we have adopted all of our seniors this year and got all of our gifts out into the community. All 1400 of them!! I would never have been able to do it without all the fabulous volunteers ! It’s unbelievable how people here in this community take care of one another . Our homebound , low income, isolated seniors are all happy !!They got all sorts of toiletries and sundries and foods for the holidays! We are going to continue taking these nec...essities out to the seniors if they do not have someone that can go to the store for them during this pandemic . SO, you can still drop off your donations at the E. Niles Senior Center , 6601 Niles Street after New Year’s . I will update those hours ; in the meantime if you still have items to donate for this holiday season please give me a call 661-703-8893 and I will make arrangements for you to drop those off . Thank you again From the bottom of my heart , Sandy See more

Look at this fabulous fundraiser ~ Forget Me Not Rescue is holding a Dinner on the Dogs opportunity drawing and a portion of the proceeds will go to Christmas for Seniors! Only $5 gives you an opportunity to win 1st Prize: $460 in local restaurant gift cards or 2nd prize: $200 in local restaurant gift cards! Simply print off the tickets and mail them back in with your payment to get in the drawing. Or, go to https://www.forgetmenotrescue.org/ and hit the DONATE button to buy... your tickets. Drawing will be held live at 12:00pm on December 20 on C4S Facebook page Forget Me Not Rescue matches homebound, isolated seniors with shelter dogs and cats from Kern County shelters that have been passed over and have little chance of finding a loving home. For more information you can check out their website or find them on Facebook, or email Dorothy at [email protected]. Good luck!

Good morning and welcome to the new home for Christmas for Seniors of Kern County! This year we are located at the East Niles Senior Center located at 6601 Niles St, Bakersfield, CA 93306. Hours of operation starting today Nov. 9th are: Monday - Friday: 10:00am - 4:00pm Saturday: 10:00am - 1:00pm Sunday: CLOSED... Due to COVID-19 restrictions many things are different this year: -Each senior will will receive a bag of necessities: cleaning products, personal hygiene, etc. AND a bag of food and other miscellaneous fun items. There will not be a personal gift this year for each individual recipient. All items will be sanitized thoroughly before being packed and distributed. -Only 10 people are allowed in the building to work at any time. Masks are required. Please call Carol Montsinger (661) 588-4614 to sign up for a volunteer time slot - we can use your help! -As we get busier we can use some help with "Parking Lot Elves" - people who will help unload carry in the parking lot and carry donations to the door. This is an outdoor position so wear your warm clothes, hats and gloves! Call Carol on (661) 588-4614 to volunteer as a Parking Lot Elf! -Items we need donations for include Cleaning Supplies: surface disinfectant wipes, spray disinfectant, 409, small bottles of bleach, paper towels. Personal Hygiene items such as: shampoo, cream rinse, shaving cream and razors, body lotion, toothpaste and toothbrushes, deodorant, 2-ply toilet paper (no flushable wipes please), soap, body wash, etc. Sundries: large print books, puzzle books, word search books, adult coloring books and colored pens & pencils. Non-perishable food items are also welcome. -This year we are also appealing for Gift Cards to be donated that C4S can use to buy more of these items: Walmart, Target & 99 Cent Only gift cards are best. We are providing a service to the most vulnerable of our population and we appreciate your donations of your valuable time and goods. Thank you from Sandy and all the crew at C4S!

HAPPY NEWS! We have a new home! We are working hard to be open in our new home by November 1st at the East Bakersfield Senior Center, 6601 Niles St. We'll have more info for you later, but wanted to share the happy news! Thank you to everyone for your assistance and good wishes as we all work through this different year. More soon on how you can help.

URGENT MESSAGE from Christmas for Seniors founder Sandy Morris: "We need a new home ASAP. Christmas for Seniors of Kern County has now been operating for fiftee...n years. We have touched the lives of thousands of homebound, isolated, low income seniors across the county. The space we are in now at the Bakersfield Association of Realtors has become unavailable to us for the next few weeks. We are in dire need of approximately 3-4,000 sq. feet area including electricity and parking for next 2 1/2 months. We are an all volunteer organization and are requesting minimal rent. In past years, we have paid $400 towards utilities. DO YOU HAVE ANY FRIENDS, OR RELATIVES BUSINESS ASSOCIATES WHO MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP US FIND A SPACE FOR THIS YEAR? Please call Sandy Morris on (661) 703-8893 if you can help.

Our fearless Board of Directors led us through our "socially distanced" board meeting at the lovely Yokuts Park yesterday. One of our action items was to try and get C4S set up to accept donations through Paypal and Venmo. We think we have succeeded! If you feel moved - you can try and send us a little donation via Paypal or Venmo to [email protected]. Every little $1 helps!... Stay tuned here for more info about how Christmas for Seniors is going to run this year. At this time we are still located at the fabulous Bakersfield Board of Realtors, 2300 Bahamas Drive and we are accepting donations of necessities and food items. Currently the office is open from 8:00am - 12:00pm Monday - Thursday. As always thank you for your kind support.

Hello fellow elves! Let me bring you up-to-date ! Since the beginning of Covid , we have teamed up with City Serve, the Board of Realtors, Dept Of Aging and Adult Services, and Stewart’s Incorporated to help our seniors that are homebound and have no one that can go to the store for them. We have been taking collections , donations of sundries, cleaning supplies, and food and we deliver it to those seniors that have contacted us that needed help. Due to the Covid situation ..., We have to make some changes as to how we’re going to do Christmas For Seniors. this year. We are going to continue this project through Christmas however it’s going to be a little bit more detailed. Every senior will get two bags, one will be full of sundries and cleaning supplies and they will get one of everything. Then they will also get a bag that has one of our pillowcases, homemade,, Cards , books , socks , and different items such as crossword puzzles , jigsaw puzzles, word finds and adult coloring books with colored pencils, calendars . We are collecting all of that and you can take it down to our area at the Board of Realtors . If you have any of that , be sure and send it our way !! The seniors will NOT have the opportunity to choose their own gift this this year , nor are we wrapping everything. We will put at least three meals in one of those bags that we send to them. They are going to be simple meals such as soup and crackers, peanut butter jelly and bread, macaroni and cheese, small little easy meals for them to prepare. Again, if you can donate any of this we are working on donations !! Wwe are also collecting monetary donations so that we can make sure that the seniors get everything in their bags that we want them to have and what they need.Our mailing address if you just wanna stick a check in the mail is 3501 Mall View Road , 125-298 Bakersfield CA, 93306. We will deliver in bulk to each facility we adopt. Thanking you in advance, Sandy See more

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to move our donation location to the wonderful Bakersfield Association of Realtors (bless them!). See the attached flyer for details on the new location and hours, a list of items needed, and a volunteer opportunity! Please call Sandy Morris on (661) 703-8893 with any questions and, as always, thank you for your kind support of seniors members in our community!

Christmas for Seniors participating !! FUND RAISER FOR FOOD AND SUNDRIES FOR NEEDY SENIORS. TACO TUESDAY Tuesday, Aug 25th ... 11a.m. -2:00 p.m. 2300 Bahamas Drive (Truxtun Ext. and Bahamas Drive) Hosted by: YPN and AGAPE MORTGAGE RSVP by: Aug. 21 Benefiting: COVID-19 Response - &Food Delivery to Senior Citizens and others affected by the pandemic - a partnership of community service with City Serve, Christian Real Estate Fellowship, Christmas for Seniors of Kern County , Aging and Adult Services, and Andre Gonzalez with Stewards Inc. Make a donation: of either product OR money and receive lunch. (make checks payable to City Serve) See the attached flyer for details. THANK YOU to YPN and AGAPE MORTGAGE!!!! The COVID-19 Response - Food Delivery Project serves households vulnerable to this disease, including our senior neighbors, and others affected by COVID-19, individuals with disabilities, and limited access to transporation. Ki Donations: * Please consider donating easy to cook or prepare meals. Our food bags include 5-7 meals, snacks, toiletries, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, puzzles, games, adult coloring books, reading books. Many of our senior neighbors and others have maintained the shelter in place mandate and may have exhausted their regular stocked supplies during their social isolation. Donations of the following items are greatly appreciated: Pasta & Pasta Sauce; Peanut Butter, Jelly & Bread, Canned Tuna, Chicken, other Protein & Condiments to mix these proteins (mayonnaise, mustard); Cold and Hot Cereal & Milk; Simple Pre-made Meals - Soups & Crackers; Chili Beans & Fritos; Hot Dogs & Buns; Eggs, Breakfast or Lunch Meats; Fresh Produce - fruits and vegetables So blessed to work with: City Serve, Christian Real Estate Fellowship, Christmas for Seniors of Kern County, Aging and Adult Services, Andre Gonzales with Stewards Inc. Adventist Health, Bakersfield Association of Realtors, and the many volunteers who give their time and hearts to help assemble the food bags and make food deliveries to our neighbors. If you would like to help deliver , please sign up at Cityservebakersfield. Com . Be sure and click seniors . As we have partnered with City Serve and these other fine groups, Christmas for Seniors will focus on food and toiletries this year. We will still provide a bag with socks, wash clothes, puzzle books and adult color books and pencils, large print reading books and calanders, homemade Christmas cards from the children. This location at 2300 Bahamas will be our only location thru December. Monetary donations can be dropped off here or sent to our mailing address CHRISTMAS FOR SENIORS OF KERN COUNTY 3501 MALL VIEW ROAD #115-298 BAKERSFIELD,CA. 93306 Thanking you in advance for helping us help the ones that went before us and lead the way, Sandy Morris

Do you use Amazon.com to shop? So many of us do, and even more now through the COVID-19 pandemic. If you shop through AmazonSmile then Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to charities selected by you. And now, Christmas for Seniors of Kern CO Inc is an eligible charity! Please consider making your Amazon purchases through AmazonSmile and selecting us as your charity! Thanks as always.

Does anyone have an old refrigerator that they would like to donate to Christmas for Seniors of Kern County? We are in need of one at the City Serve location at 1431 L Street in order for us to accept the donations of perishable produce, milk, meats and cheeses for the home bound seniors. If you can help, please contact Sandy on (661) 703-8893. Please share, and thanks for your kindness!