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Meals on Wheels collecting blankets for seniors during holiday season

Sometimes the smallest gift can make the biggest difference.

SCRANTON, Pa. — 10 down, 990 to go.

Meals on Wheels in Lackawanna County is looking to give away 1,000 blankets this holiday season.

"A blanket is a gift of warmth and comfort, and it just lets people know that they're being thought of, which I think is really important, especially because not all of our clients have people that think of them on the regular. So they know that we're thinking about them," said Melissa Carestia, Director of Strategic Community Endeavors for Meals on Wheels.

The organization is usually focused on providing daily meals to seniors. But this time of year, volunteers want to do more than that. 

They know this might be the only gift some of their clients get during the holidays. 

"The regular visits from our volunteers to clients are sometimes the only interaction our clients get. So to get that small Christmas gift, that small holiday gift of a warm, fuzzy blanket, it feels good," Carestia said.

Carestia is new to Meals on Wheels, but she's already gotten a taste of how meaningful the program is to seniors here.

"We just handed some candy out for Halloween, and I got a phone call from one of our clients about how happy it made him. And that made me so happy. So I can't imagine like a little bag of candy went so far, I can't imagine how far a blanket will go."

The organization is also collecting toiletries and warm socks for the winter.

You can drop off a donation to the office on Wyoming Avenue in Scranton during regular business hours Monday through Friday.

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