Holiday Fun For Seniors
The Big Apple is bursting with things to do this holiday season

By Janel Bladow

No use sitting at home on holiday feeling blue because you are alone. For seniors living in the Big Apple, New York City is a fun place to be.

There’s the Christmas tree to visit in Rockefeller Center and the store windows to saunter past on Fifth Ave and on 34th Street.

Most neighborhood senior centers have holiday parties and outings planned. Even if you are not a member or a regular client, many will happily welcome another guest to their events.

But for others, this can be an extremely stressful season.

“This can be a time of loneliness and anxiety for many seniors,” says Alexandra Collier, director of volunteer services and special programming at the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged (JASA). “Many elderly people are not well or homebound, and that creates anxiety around the holidays.”

You can bring comfort and joy to the homebound by giving a little of your holiday spirit. Volunteering to bring a meal, walk a pet, wrap presents or serve drinks is a easy way to share your Christmas charitableness as well as avoid being home alone yourself.

Here are some events and ways to give back this holiday season:

JASA – The Third Annual Holiday Gift Delivery to the homebound living in the Penn South section of Manhattan, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 4-8 p.m. Volunteers are needed to wrap gifts and deliver holiday cheer to seniors in need. Wintertime Snow Ball Party, Friday, Dec. 26, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Besides mingling with other seniors, you can volunteer to help decorate, serve food or clean up. To volunteer or for more information, email volunteer@jasa.org or call (212) 273-5275.

92nd Street Y – Two very popular Hanukkah events are open to all seniors. Get on board with revelers of all ages to travel around the “world” for live performances, unique arts and crafts and delicious foods during their Hanukkah Festival on Sunday, Dec. 14, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. ($20 adults; $15 children over 2). Take a musical safari through Africa, enjoy a puppet show from Prague or join Judah Maccabi in Israel to press olive oil or make “ancient” pottery. Then on Friday, Dec. 19, 6 – 7:30 p.m., join in for Chanukah Dinner ($20 adults; $8 child). Light Menorah and Shabbat candles, eat latkes and challah and celebrate the season.

Encore – one of the busiest, thriving senior centers in the city is housed in St. Malachy’s Church, The Actors’ Chapel, 239 West 49th Street, where more than 330 seniors come daily to participate in a wide range of programs, including movies, meals and fellowship. “They live for food, it’s a highlight,” says Encore Assistant Director Nieves Taveras, who organizes most of the programs. This holiday, she’s planning three major events for all registered seniors. On Wednesday, Dec. 10 is the annual Holiday Dance and the next day, Thursday, Dec. 11, is the senior Christmas Party at TGIF, 42nd Street and Madison, beginning at 9 am. Then on Wednesday, Dec. 17 is their annual Holiday Raffle. To attend or volunteer at any of these events or at anytime, contact their Friendly Visiting Program by email volunteer@encorecommunityservices.org or call 212-581-2910, ext. 110. The Center is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and open to seniors 60 and up.

Food Bank For NYC - The Senior Food Program serves an average of 225 early dinners each weekday to seniors in need at the dining facilities of two public schools in Harlem and Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Volunteers are needed Mondays through Fridays 3:30–6pm to assist at both of the senior programs by spending time with seniors, maintaining the space and assisting with educational, cultural and recreational activities such as low-impact exercise classes, nutrition workshops and dance lessons. To receive meals or to volunteer, call their main office, 212.566.7855, by email hjoseph@foodbanknyc.org.

Visit your neighborhood senior center to find out more activities and ways to help. Most are listed in the Yellow Pages under Senior Centers.

If you’d like to find additional ways to volunteer this season, go to www.volunteernyc.org for continuously update listings of places and events needing volunteers.