'Santa for seniors' project delivers nearly 100 gift bags to senior citizens in the Sault

What was originally intended to be a small tribute to her late grandmother turned into a large act of kindness for 16-year-old Morgan Nadon Turner. 

Her ‘Santa for seniors’ program collected donations of gifts and cash from the public, then used those donations to deliver gift bags to more than 90 residents at senior homes throughout Sault Ste. Marie. 

Nadon Turner and her mother, Kelly Turner, have been busy delivering the gift bags to residents at Extendicare Van Daele Manor, Pathways Retirement Residence, Extendicare Maple View and F.J. Davey Home over the past two days.   

“It was amazing,” Turner told SooToday. “The response from the community was more than anybody could have anticipated.”

Turner says that she and her daughter were originally going to do something special for one senior during the holiday season, but Nadon Turner eventually decided to go big with her Santa-for-seniors project.  

Nadon Turner contacted some of the seniors homes locally, and spoke with staff in order to identify seniors who don’t have a lot of family. 

The local teenager then put out a call on social media requesting the public’s support.

“If we had known ahead of time how big it was going to be, we would’ve started in November,” Turner said. 

As Turner put it to SooToday, the donations of gifts and cash “just kept coming.” 

The donated gifts, along with about $750 in cash donations, were used to make roughly 94 gift bags - valued at approximately $100 each. 

The gift bags delivered to senior homes Tuesday and Wednesday contained everything from slippers, blankets and winter gear to personal care products. 

Coffee, tea and mugs were provided in many of the gift bags, as well as books, puzzles and boxes of chocolate.  

“She worked her butt off and was able to compile these incredible bags - they had so much stuff in them,” Turner said of her daughter’s efforts. “Anything that you could think or need for comfort for seniors is in the bag.”

The program also acted on two referrals it had received. 

“One was a 95-year-old lady who had lost her husband, her granddaughter and her daughter this year,” said Turner. “So we actually went out and met with her and the remaining family personally.”

“We had another lady who was referred to us who didn’t have much, so we were able to get her a pair of winter boots, because the referral was that she didn’t have anything for her feet, and her feet were cold. We got her some boots, we got her a hat and mitts and we got her a new pair of slippers. We tried to address as much of the personal needs for people as we could.”

Turner says her daughter’s Santa-for-seniors project had elementary school students pitching in with donations of handmade cards and crafts, and an invitation from F.H. Clergue Public School to come in and speak to students in a grade five class.   

She says that the gap between seniors and younger generations “vanished” through her daughter’s efforts. 

“We heard from a number of young people who had lost a grandparent or lost a family member, and I know we had a few that said, ‘we bought our grandma’s favourite things.’ It was incredibly satisfying to see the response,” Turner said.  

Nadon Turner, her mother says, is “absolutely exhausted” after her big push to make the holidays a little brighter for seniors in the city. 

“For her, this was a very big undertaking on a personal level,” said Turner. “She’s done great. I’m so incredibly proud of her.”

Turner and her daughter would very much like to continue the Santa-for-seniors project next year. 

“The need isn’t going to go away - we have a lot of seniors who are very isolated, and the most important thing at Christmas is family,” said Turner. “If we can become family for people who have no one, then we’ve accomplished the goal.”