With all the precision and enthusiasm of Santa’s workshop at the North Pole, volunteers for the Senior Santa program had the production line going Dec. 14 in Viera, filling bags to brighten the holidays for more than 600 seniors in local nursing homes and hospices.

“We make sure that everybody gets something, from Mims to Micco,’’ said Jan McCarter, who works with sponsor Brevard County TRIAD, a partnership that includes the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, local law-enforcement agencies and the State Attorney’s Office.

“We’ve been doing this since 1999, but it’s been much slower this year,” McCarter said. “This year, everybody is just strapped. There have been less donations and less money, but we still make it go.’’

 

  A total of 17 out of 28 nursing homes and hospices in Brevard sent in lists of Christmas wishes from their residents without other means of getting presents such as sweaters, lap blankets and toiletries, she said.

Of the 3,200 nursing home residents living in Brevard, “some would not be getting anything if it wasn’t for this program. We’re able to give them one, if not both, of their wishes,’’ she said.

But even with the downturn in donations, organizing, filling and distributing 640 gift bags is no small feat. The system included numbers for each nursing home, and another number noting the specific wishes of individual residents.

“We’ve been involved since it started and wouldn‘t have it any other way,’’ said Norm and Marilyn Hayes of Indian Harbour Beach, who were busy stuffing 108 of the bags into their van for delivery to the Life Care Center in Melbourne.

“We like making the deliveries because it’s always good to see the people who are receptive,” Norm Hayes said. “We know we are making a difference in these people‘s lives.’’