COLUMBIA, S.C. — For the past three years, one woman in Northeast Columbia has been making sure seniors living at NHC HealthCare Parklane have a very merry Christmas.
Patti Silva, the facility's business office manager, has gone around to ask each resident what they want for Christmas. She then created an Amazon wish list and has been asking for the community's help with donations.
"I created a wish list to make sure that all of our residents try to get what they would like. There's always a lot of donations that come in and I try to base this on really what they wish for. A lot of people don't have families and it's important to me that they get something that they wish for," Silva said.
They have about 80 donations so far, but with 180 residents, they need about 100 more donations to cover everyone for Christmas.
Two of the residents News19 spoke with are dreaming of some big ticket items, but said they would love a small gift just the same.
"I really want to go home, and I want a dog and a new car," Edith Plowden, resident said.
"I would like to have a smart watch. I don't have to have the phone, just the watch," Eunice White, resident said. "Oh my god, that would feel great, I really would."
Silva tells News19 the seniors are asking for things like nightgowns, non-slip slippers, perfume, candy and socks.
If you'd like to help out and donate, you can stop by their location at 7601 Parklane Rd. any day of the week from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. up until Christmas day.
If you don't have time to drop off, call the facility and they'll come pick up the donation from you.
Silva tells News19 that some locals donating have had issues with choosing from the Amazon wish list due to items not being available or not arriving on time for Christmas.
So she suggests getting ideas from this list, and then purchasing the items to donate from a local store.
