Nolly Costello works with 128 residents at a local nursing home, and most of them have visitors during the holidays. But there’s a handful of residents who have no one this time of year, she said.

“We have residents here that don’t have family,” said Costello, activity director at Greenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. “We do our best to kind of lift their spirits.”

A local organization is helping that effort as it gives Christmas gifts to lonely residents in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. The Barren River Long Term Care Ombudsman Program is an advocacy group for residents in such facilities.

The program’s third annual Silver Bells Project now needs sponsors who are willing to donate money or purchase gifts for certain residents. In many cases, the facility will make sure residents get Christmas gifts, but most facilities cannot afford to give them a good Christmas, said Teresa Whitaker, district ombudsman for the 10-county region.

“The facilities are not always able to provide a lot of things to the residents,” she said. “If we didn’t do what we do, they wouldn’t get more than one thing. They’d get a pair of socks.”

The community can donate $10, bring in $10 worth of items that can be given as gifts or sponsor a resident by purchasing items from his or her personal wish list. Residents usually ask for basic items such as clothing, accessories, candy, snack food, blankets and toiletries. One year, a resident received a remote control car he had requested.

“They’re just little kids at Christmas time,” Whitaker said. “They ask for pen, paper and stamps so they can communicate with people. And it’s nice to see them wearing a pair of shoes that fit.”

This year, the program has targeted a total of 60 residents from four local long-term care facilities. There are 31 facilities with 2,400 beds in the district, and, sadly, several people in those beds are forgotten around the holidays, Whitaker said.

“A lot of times, their families … don’t know what to do with them,” she said. “When loved ones and friends get older, we forget about them. They deserve our respect and dignity.”

At Greenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a majority of residents who are alone are simply the only surviving members of their families, Costello said.

“Usually, they didn’t have children, and their family has passed on,” she said.

Workers try to make sure those people have cheerful holidays. They provide them with Christmas meals and gifts. Local churches and schools sing Christmas carols around the holidays, and people who visit other residents also spend time with those who are lonely, she said.

“It means the world to them,” she said. “It makes them feel wanted and needed.”

– To make a donation to the Silver Bells Project, visit the ombudsmen office at 1700 Destiny Lane or call 842-7587. All donations should be submitted no later than Dec. 16.