Holidays inspire senior good deeds

Utahns serving in the Marines will get homemade Christmas care packages. About 400 people needing a better coat got one Friday, and kids hospitalized at Shriners can expect Santa to bring books this year, thanks to area holiday good-deed-doers.

Donations at the 4th Annual Community Coat Exchange in the downtown library plaza Friday were down from last year, but everyone in need who showed up received a coat or was provided a way to get one, said organizer Deanna Taylor.

"I think having fewer donations is a sign of the economic times we're in," Taylor said. "A lot of people who would donate are hanging on to things for another winter rather than donating them. That's just the way things are right now."

Marines serving with the 7th Battalion will be served Christmas boxes made by the senior residents of Park Lane Senior Residence in Salt Lake.

The effort is new for the residence and is a reminder to servicemen that there are helping hands and willing hearts back home, said Matthew Hope, Park Lane program director.

"In years past, we have participated in the KUTV Angel Tree program, other service projects for soldiers and campaigns for the American Cancer Society, as well as other organizations," said Hope. The Christmas box idea seemed a natural choice this year because one of the residents has a son who has been in Afghanistan for three weeks and just found out his wife is pregnant, he said.

A holiday children's book drive to benefit Shriners Hospital is under way at the Borders store in Murray. The drive runs until Dec. 24. Customers can donate a new book to a child or they can donate a Beckett the Bear teddy bear, said store general manager Matt Grahl.

The drive not only provides much-needed books for small patients at Shriners, it's also part of the company's goal of helping to foster literacy in families and in the community, Grahl said.

Even in an ever more digitized world, "a good book or cuddly bear will help our patients pass the time and brighten their days in the hospital," said Michael Babcock, Shriners director of public relations.

e-mail: jthalman@desnews.com