On December 6th Sieda handed out 2 bags at the Sieda Wapello County Resource Center. Every year Sieda Community Action sends a letter to our pre-qualified low-income senior households asking if they would like to be included in the Silver Bells Program. This year we had an orange bag of food and a blue bag of gift items for a total of 215 homes with 247 individuals.

Sieda’s Silver Bells Program would not have been a success without the help of our partners. Thanks to the groups in the community that combined their money and time with Sieda. Alone Sieda’s gift of food and a bag would not have been as amazing as the final group outcome. 

First of all, the blue gift bags added a little warmth and cheer from Grace (the combined Methodist Churches). The great people at the church bought and packaged items for 105 men and 142 women. A few of the pieces were socks, gloves, and blankets. 

Similarly, the orange bags were supplied by Sieda to provide food. We have several partners that help donate financially and/or with their time to the food bag. Items in the bags included ham, canned vegetables and fruit, broth, gravy, noodles, Jell-O, potatoes, butter, and stuffing. Principal Financial Group of Ottumwa came to pack the bags prior to distribution. Thanks for your hard work. Plus thank you John Deere and Principal Financial Group for your donation towards a portion of the food. As well as the grocery stores for helping us with our large food orders. 

We have received many thank yous, smiles, and great appreciation from the seniors that picked up their gift bags. Mary of Agency commented as I loaded her car, “I really appreciate all that you do. I can’t tell you how much this means. I’ll have to send a thank you card…” Many of the seniors live on their own, as you can see by the numbers, this is just one way for us to show that we care.

Once again, Sieda would like to thank all those who donated their time, funding, and work to help make the Silver Bells Program successful.