Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

For many, Christmas brings to mind family gatherings, youngsters waiting impatiently for Santa and the joy of sharing gifts with loved ones.
But for others, Christmas can be a time of solitude and heartache … particularly those away from family, those whose families have passed on and those who are confined for health or other reasons.
On Dec. 19, a first-year program designed to counteract such loneliness provided residents at Trinity Place with not only a visit from Santa, but a little something to keep them company this Christmas — their very own stuffed bears — through the “Cares with Bears” project, an initiative of Stanly County Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
“We come out to the nursing care and assisted living centers a lot,” said Community Paramedic Mike Gilbert, who coordinated the project. “In doing so, we meet a lot of seniors who are short on family at this time of year. So, we decided that we would give something back to them.”

Lt. Paramedic Mikayla Whitlow, who worked alongside Gilbert in implementing the program, shared his desire to give back.
“We noticed that so much of the giving at Christmas focuses on children, but not so much on the elderly,” she said.
“Cares with Bears” is the culmination of the two paramedics’ efforts, and came about with the support of the entire Stanly County EMS organization. The program, according to information from EMS Chief Dale Chandler, “aims to provide comfort and companionship to those in need, especially during the holiday season.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Trinity Place for this year’s drive,” Chandler added. “Christmas is a time of happiness and joy; and we wanted to focus on a population that sometimes misses out on the holiday festivities.”
According to Gilbert, local donors were key to making the program possible.
“We collected 250 bears through donation boxes placed at each of the EMS stations,” he said.

Trinity Place Administrator Todd Gabriel expressed his appreciation to all who made the program possible.
“We are blessed and honored for our residents to be selected for the first year of this program,” he said.
He credited Life Enrichment and Activities Director Tracy Dean (who had donned elf clothing for the day) for her collaborative efforts with the event.
“Tracy has been preparing for this for the past three months, and we are especially thankful for what not only she, but our entire staff, does,” he said. “They all provide so much for our residents.”
And, according to Chandler, even though the Trinity Place residents were the recipients of the cuddly gifts, the EMS personnel who participated received great satisfaction as well.
“This was a very rewarding experience for our staff, and we hope to make it an annual event,” Chandler said.

Toby Thorpe is a freelance writer for The Stanly News & Press.