Senior residents at east Alabama nursing homes received a little bit of Christmas cheer a couple of weeks early this year.

Volunteers from the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) spent several weeks acquiring personal care items donated by employees in the company’s Eastern Division, headquartered in Anniston, before assembling gift bags for seniors at five area nursing homes.

“We’re finding that the needs are just regular shampoo, conditioner, body wash — the simple things that we take for granted,” said Dana McFarland, a community relations specialist in Alabama Power’s Eastern Division. “The small things that we have in our cabinet every day, the residents do not have a supply of those items.”

APSO volunteers gathered the personal care items as well as coloring books, Crayons and colored pencils. The items were then assembled into reusable bags before being distributed to the seniors.

In total, 262 gift bags were donated to seniors at the five nursing homes in Blount, Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne and Talladega counties. When the initiative began several years ago, just one nursing home was serviced.

Next year, the volunteers hope to provide gifts at even more senior facilities.

“When I started three years ago, we only did one nursing home each year,” McFarland said. “This year is our first year where we decided ‘Let’s do as many as we can.’ Everybody around the division got together and called the different nursing homes in their area and decided we can do five.”

McFarland said the need is great. She encouraged people who want to help to call their local nursing home and speak to the activities coordinator, who can share ways to support the facility’s seniors by providing supplies or financial donations, or by volunteering their time.

“It’s very important for us to be involved and to give back,” McFarland said. “We are so fortunate, so we want to be able to give as much as we can back to others.

“I think we take the small things for granted, like being able to just get up and brush our teeth or get up and wash our hair — these are things that these residents aren’t able to do on an everyday basis. Just knowing that we can provide a little bit to them means a lot to me and means so much to our employees,” McFarland said.

To learn more about Alabama Power employee and retiree volunteerism, visit powerofgood.com and click on “Volunteers.”

APSO volunteers distribute gift bags for nursing home residents. (contributed)

Members of APSO assemble gift bags for nursing home residents. (contributed)

Gift bags and stockings are given out at east Alabama nursing homes. (contributed)