Holiday gifts brighten season for seniors

Older folks in Maryville got a late Christmas gift on Friday thanks to local Mary Kay cosmetics dealer Karis Morrow.

Using her Facebook social networking site as a base, it took Morrow about a week to raise $4,000 from acquaintances, virtual friends and customers — most of it in $20 increments.

She used the money to put together about 200 gift packages for local seniors who either receive Meals on Wheels or eat lunch at the Nodaway County Senior Center.

The presents, wrapped in gaily colored Christmas boxes, were supposed to be handed out Dec. 21, but a winter storm forced the Senior Center to close that day.

So Morrow, along with her son Zeke and a family friend, Michelle Ebersole, played Santa a few days late, loading gifts into Meals on Wheels vehicles and passing them out through the noon hour to a large group of seniors at the beginning of New Year's weekend.

Each package contained a tube of fragrance-free Mary Kay hand lotion and a container of lip balm. The gift packs also included a hand-frosted cookie made by Hopkins resident Joyce Scott.

Along with their gift, recipients were handed a Christmas card signed by Morrow on behalf of one of more than 150 donors.

While most of those who made contributions live in Nodaway County or other parts of Missouri, checks also came in from as far away as Florida, North Carolina and Illinois.

Morrow said she chose the gift items because older people often suffer discomfort during the winter related to dry skin and chapped lips.

What Morrow has come to call the "Give Joy Project" actually started last year, when she assembled similar gift boxes for local nursing home residents. This year, however, she said she wanted to share holiday cheer with other area seniors as well.