Knights of Columbus bring gifts to local senior citizens
Published 7:00 am Friday, December 23, 2016
Kathleen Penton puts an apple pie into one of the 22 boxes given to senior citizens in need.
Photo by Taylor Welsh.
The Knights of Columbus visited the Senior Center of South Pearl River County Thursday morning to give gifts to those in need.
The Knights of Columbus brought a “Christmas meal in a box” for each of the senior citizens with food insecurity to guarantee them a meal during the holidays, Kathleen Penton, senior center activities coordinator, said. In total, the Knights of Columbus Picayune Council 6872 brought 22 boxes full of food, each of which contained a whole frozen chicken, multiple cans of vegetables, stuffing and dressing, an apple pie and more.
“It is very generous for the Knights of Columbus to do this for these seniors,” Penton said. “We always look forward to seeing them around this time each year.”
The Knights of Columbus has given these boxes to the people at the senior center for at least the past nine years. Each year their donation “gets better and better,” Penton said.
“I had one of the seniors come up to me after opening the box and said, ‘You don’t realize how much this helps me.’ It’s things like that which make Christmas and the gift of giving so special,” Penton said.
The Senior Center’s mission statement is “to provide a safe, comfortable and attractive environment to which seniors can come to participate in activities designed to enhance their physical, mental and emotional well-being,” which Penton said is reflected in the donation from the Knights of Columbus.
Because there is so much food in each box, Penton said some of the boxes are also intended to be shared by the seniors with their loved ones in need, and at local churches.
“It’s very humbling to see the looks on everyone’s faces when The Knights wheel in all the boxes of goodies. Everyone just lights up with joy. It brings warmness to my heart,” Penton said.
Friday from 6 to 9 p.m., the Senior Center of South Pearl River County is hosting its annual Christmas party for the senior citizens to dance, sing karaoke or just mingle.
For more information about the Senior Center’s events, visit the Facebook page The Senior Center of South Pearl River County or call at 601-798-9892. The Center is located at 45 El Patch Parkway in Picayune.
