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The San Diego Seniors Community Foundation recently awarded grants to 25 local senior centers and nonprofit organizations with the goal of brightening the holidays for socially isolated seniors throughout the region.
Now in its third year, the grant program represents the largest holiday effort for seniors in the region, partnering with an unprecedented number of senior centers and nonprofit organizations to support more than 5,000 older adults. The grants are funded through SDSCF’s No Senior Alone Matching Holiday Challenge, an ongoing fundraising campaign that hopes to double the amount raised in 2022 to $150,000 to benefit twice as many seniors as last year.
“Social isolation among seniors was already a public health crisis before the pandemic, and it’s worse than ever,” said Bob Kelly, founder of the SDSCF. “Many of our oldest community members are homebound and alone during the holidays. This grant program brings holiday comfort, company, and celebrations to San Diego’s older adults throughout the county thanks to a strong network of nonprofits that support this population. We are proud to fulfill every holiday grant request received this year.”
One in three San Diego seniors over the age of 65 live alone, and there are an estimated 150,000 “senior orphans” in San Diego County. Senior orphans are seniors who have never been married, maybe married and had no kids then may have been widowed, or they have no family living in the area. The other worst-case scenario is that they have outlived their friends on top of everything else.
SDSCF is currently seeking the San Diego community’s support to help raise additional contributions. Donations can be made at sdscf.org/givingtuesday. The matching campaign is anchored by a generous $50,000 grant from the Sahm Family Foundation, and runs now through the end of the year.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.sdscf.org.
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