Annual Santa Cop wrap party helps brighten holidays for seniors

PALMER — Sleeping late on a Saturday morning is a great thing, unless you’re volunteering for the Santa Cop and Heroes' Program. By 8 a.m. folks were lining up at the Mat-Su Senior Services Center in Palmer to assist with the annual wrap party. They were bringing gifts and food along with their hearts and hands to begin the seasonal assemblage of gifts for seniors, who are alone on Christmas day.

By 11 a.m., all the tables inside the Senior Center were packed with volunteers. There were full families, friends, and strangers sitting and working together with cartons of wrapping paper, greeting cards, and ribbon. A long side table was piled high with gift options including stacks of new bath towels and boxes of slippers. Hundreds of brightly colored handmade items, specially knitted or crocheted, had been lovingly donated by the incarcerated women residing at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center. Patricia Rose was singing Christmas music for all the volunteers as they wrapped and wrapped.

Mother and daughter Julia and Kali Renfro were working through a list for an elderly gentleman. He was receiving a new pair of house-shoes, some action movies, some Dallas Cowboy swag, a tin of cookies, a Dremmel tool and lots of cat treats. He had submitted his list and Santa Cop elves had done the shopping. Julia was tying up small packages with ribbons. She said, “I’m just trying to imagine the smile on his face.”

Daughter Kali agreed. She said with a big grin, “It’s a good way to spend a Saturday morning.” It was obvious that amongst all the Christmas wrap and hand-written cards, the Renfros were including their own good wishes.

The Santa Cop and Heroes' mission is to support emotional well-being by providing gifts and companionship to Mat-Su Valley Seniors who will be alone on Christmas. This year nearly 100 elders from across the Matanuska Susitna Valley—from Willow to Sutton— will be receiving wonderful gifts, complements of the Santa Cop program.

Donna Anthony started the program 12 years ago when she worked for the Palmer Police Department. She has shepherded the program into what it is today, which is a huge borough-wide effort to help local elders.

This annual wrap party is a great equalizer in the community. Local leaders sat shoulder to shoulder with school children, parents, millennials, and many law enforcement volunteers. Palmer Police Chief Lance Ketterling had perhaps the widest smile at the event, seconded only by Donna Anthony’s.

In addition to support, the program works to strengthen a bond between seniors and the local police departments, fire departments, state troopers, emergency services and the military. Older citizens are often vulnerable, and good connections with law enforcement helps to create a stronger community,

There are many sponsors of the program including dozens of local businesses, regional corporations, statewide industries, and national companies.