Partnering to Serve Our Community’s Senior Citizens
Serving SD Seniors
For over 20 years now, Friends of Downtown have been putting together holiday gift bags for the low-income seniors in our community. On a cold and rainy Saturday this past December, members of FODSD gathered at Serving Seniors' Wellness Center to warm the hearts and brighten the spirits of local homebound seniors by filling 150 gift bags to the brim.
"Vulnerable seniors whom we serve are homebound for various reasons such as limited mobility, physical disability or other health issues. For many of them, the holiday gift bag from Friends of Downtown is the only gift they'll receive during the holidays," says Edith Glassey, Vice President of Philanthropy for Serving Seniors. "We are grateful for FOD's continued generosity and for bringing light and joy to the lives of our seniors."
Meet Our Partners
BakerNowicki Design Studio is dedicated to sharing and giving when we can, especially around the holidays. We’ve supported SAY San Diego, which supports young families and single parents in need, for approximately 14 years. But when we heard about Friends of Downtown’s commitment to our local senior population who are mostly shut-ins, we realized there is another HUGE need to which we could offer our support.
“I proposed to our partners, Jon Baker, Richard Nowicki, Buddy Gessel and Brian Leonard, that our company support FODSD / Serving Seniors in 2019, and there was a unanimous agreement,” stated Kelley Mack, Office Manager, BakerNowicki Design Studio.
The company went on Full Steam Ahead with fundraising. Not only are our partners generous, so is our staff. For every dollar we received in donation for Friends of Downtown’s commitment to Serving Seniors at the Holidays, BakerNowicki matched, dollar for dollar. The reason we chose to support Friends of Downtown and subsequently Serving Seniors is because of their altruistic commitment in supporting and serving all those in our community who are in need.
“Because Friends of Downtown is a 100% Volunteer based non-profit, we can trust that every dollar we donate will reach the intended persons or causes,” said Mack. “This type of non-profit organization is rare and BakerNowicki Design Studio is proud to give our support to FOD and their community service programs.”
For 5+ years the Santaluz Community Council has graciously provided jumbo Red Bags & Custom ‘Friends of Downtown | Santaluz’ Labels for our Senior Holiday Program. The Santaluz SPA traditionally donates a toiletry item, and the entire Family of Bernadette Lemieux (SCC Executive Director) spends precious time together over their Thanksgiving Weekend on our magical project - they select and creatively package 300 individual packets with a variety of toiletries (150) and yummy healthy snacks (150) !
“Santaluz is dedicated to ‘community outreach activities’”, stated Ash Roberts, a pioneer Santaluz homeowner and a FODSD Member. “It’s very rewarding to bring together these two entities who share the mission of helping Seniors in need during the holiday season.”