STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Not just youngsters will be on Santa’s list again this year.
As the Staten Island Board of Realtors progresses toward its 100th anniversary in October 2015, volunteers from the organization will be visiting lonely senior citizens in the borough’s nursing homes as part of the group’s 14th annual Adopt-a-Senior initiative.
The program runs from now through Dec. 23 with a goal of spreading cheer to Island senior citizens who are alone, mainly without family, friends or loved ones to be with them.
Adopt-a-Senior is among the many ways SIBOR makes personal commitments to the same community where its member Realtors also live and work.
In fact, community service is among the major themes of SIBOR’s 100th anniversary observances, which began last month.
“Staten Island’s Realtors seek to enrich the lives of the people in our community; this includes the most fragile and lonely among us,” said Laird Klein, president of SIBOR. “A visit, a gift, a smile or a touch may seem like modest commodities; but to those who need it most, they are invaluable treasures.”
To supplement the generous donations by Realtors themselves, the organization is also collecting gift donations from others at its headquarters, 1535 Richmond Ave, Suite 3, Bulls Head.
The deadline for SIBOR to receive donations is Dec. 2. Gift distribution will take place from Dec. 11 to Dec. 23.
More than 500 designated seniors residing in nursing homes around the borough will receive an assortment of gift donations.
The seniors’ wish lists include games, books, puzzles, hand lotions, makeup, face cream, perfume and cologne, and warm-weather clothing such as sweaters, scarves, hats, socks, gloves, pajamas, undershirts, jogging outfits and undergarments just in time for the holidays.
The SIBOR volunteers pack their cars with the donations, take them to the nursing homes and hand-deliver them directly to the seniors.
Quite a few seniors are past recipients, and the nursing homes assist SIBOR in directing the gifts to the appropriate recipients.
Participating nursing homes include Carmel Richmond Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center; Clove Lakes Health Care and Rehabilitation Center; Silver Lake Specialized Care Center; Eger Harbor House; Golden Gate Rehabilitation and Health Care Center; and Verrazano Nursing Home; Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home; Staten Island Care Center, and St. Comas and Damian Adult Home.
In many typical instances, SIBOR members and staffers have gotten to know a host of residents through Adopt-a-Senior.
One of the heart-warming stories from a few years ago involved the death of a woman who had no remaining family and was a resident of the Verrazano Nursing Home in Tompkinsville.
Over the years, she had become a friend of SIBOR staffers and volunteers.
With donations from its members, SIBOR paid for her funeral and cemetery burial, which she would not have had otherwise, receiving help with the arrangements from Public Administrator Gary Gotlin.
Anyone who would like to donate to Adopt-a-Senior or volunteer with the Realtors may contact Annmarie Izzo at 718-928-3223 or stop by the SIBOR office with a donation. For more information about SIBOR, please visit the website at www.siborealtors.com.
About The Staten Island Board of REALTORS® (SIBOR)
The Staten Island Board of REALTORS® (SIBOR) is the largest not-for-profit trade association in Staten Island, N.Y.
SIBOR exists to enhance the ability and opportunity of its members to conduct business successfully and ethically, and to promote the preservation of the public’s right to own, transfer and use real property.
Comprising more than 1,700 members, SIBOR serves real estate agents, brokers and affiliated professionals throughout the borough and surrounding areas.
SIBOR is the provider of the Staten Island Multiple Listing Service Inc. (SIMLS), which serves as a clearinghouse through which more than 250 local real estate firms exchange information on properties they have listed for sale. Together, its members participate in more than 3,000 real estate transactions every year.
All SIBOR members belong to the New York State Association of REALTORS® (NYSAR) and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
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