Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke members found great joy in playing Santa’s helpers for 115 area seniors and homebound people.
Barbara Barr Bengen
The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke teamed up with IMPACT of Southern Arizona, Oracle Community Center, and Bubb’s Grub, to bring Christmas to 115 seniors and shut-ins in the cities surrounding SaddleBrooke. It took a team to produce a complete Christmas dinner, music, singing, dancing, and gifts. But the smiles on the faces of these seniors and homebound people made the day!
The Oracle Community Center (OCC) offered a central location, kitchen, dining facilities, and personnel for the event. The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke has been instrumental in updating the kitchen and OCC building for community use. In the warmth of this facility, participants laughed, sang, danced, and enjoyed the holidays.
IMPACT of Southern Arizona services these seniors and shut-ins. IMPACT offers a hand up, rather than a handout. IMPACT led the team from the OCC and The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke, and secured donations. IMPACT also provided wonderful door prizes and gift bags for the participants.
Bubb’s Grub donated smoked turkeys with all the trimmings. This was such a special treat for all. The food was so plentiful that participants also got a take home box filled with holiday goodness!
The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke provided all kinds of support under the leadership of John and Linda Howard. There were months of planning, days of cooking and set up, hours of baking homemade cookies, serving the seniors, helping with the party and giveaways, distribution of gifts and homemade cookies, and then the cleanup. And of course, there were some incredible experiences while delivering Christmas dinner, gifts, and cookies.
Most people join Rotary to help make a difference in the world. What a difference we were able to make to 115 area seniors and shut-ins. And what a difference it made to all the Rotarians who contributed to the event. And this is just one of our many service projects. We were recently recognized by the District Governor for being the club involved in the most service projects in the district.
The Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke is an award-winning club. We meet Thursdays at 11 a.m. for lunch at the Ranch House at SaddleBrooke Ranch. Then we meet in the ballroom followed by an educational program or speaker. Rotary is open to those who live and work in SaddleBrooke, SaddleBrooke Ranch, and the surrounding communities. All are welcome! For more information, check out saddlebrookerotary.com or contact Diane Demeroutis at [email protected].