PICK NAME, BE SANTA TO AN ISOLATED SENIOR HELP NEEDED TO WRAP AND DELIVER GIFTS.

Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - The gift requests are often simple -- a blanket, socks or food for their pets.

But when local senior citizens in need receive them, it brightens their holiday season and instills a sense of community in those who give.

That's why the ``Be a Santa to a Senior'' program has been so successful, delivering more than 200,000 gifts to seniors nationwide over the past two years.

This year, Christmas trees featuring ornaments with the names of needy seniors have been set up at various spots in Ventura County, including Strathearn Park in Simi Valley.

``I saw this two years ago at Wal-Mart and thought it was a great thing to do,'' said Karla Hubble, president of the Simi Valley Historical Society, which helped arrange for the gift tree to be placed at Strathearn Park.

``Lots of people donate toys for kids, but there are also a lot of seniors out there who don't have family, or someone who thinks about them on the holidays.''

Local nonprofits have already identified needy and isolated seniors in the community and provided their names to Home Instead Senior Care, which has set up the trees.

The nonprofit social service agencies involved in the project include the Simi Valley Center Center, Thousand Oaks' Goebel Senior Center, the Oasis organization, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services, Area Agency on Aging, Disabled American Veterans, Hospice of the Conejo and the Moorpark Senior Center.

In Simi Valley, the ``Be a Santa to a Senior'' trees are at Strathearn Park, the Simi Valley Wal-Mart at 255 Cochran St., the Simi Hills Gracious Retirement Community at 950 Sunsetgarden Lane, and Sunrise at Simi Hills at 5300 E. Los Angeles Ave.

People can pick up ornaments with the names, buy items on the list and return wrapped gifts to the tree locations.

At Wal-Mart, the gifts are left unwrapped, so from 4 to 8 p.m. Dec. 12, volunteers will gather to wrap them at the Simi Valley Senior Center. The gifts will be distributed to the seniors starting Dec. 13.

``We hope people from the community come out to the Senior Center and help wrap the hundreds of packages,'' said Nancy Youngblood, manager of the Ventura County office of Home Instead Senior Care, which sponsors the program.

Simi Valley Mayor Paul Miller commended the effort and encouraged the city's residents to participate.

```Be Santa to a Senior' and its volunteers seek to eliminate the crush of holiday isolation felt by Simi Valley's senior adults,'' Miller said in a statement. ``Of 8,900 persons over the age of 65 living in Simi Valley, nearly 41 percent live alone.''

Hubble said the initial allotment of gift ornaments went so quickly, the Historical Society has gone back for more.

Home Instead Senior Care has done the program for three years, Youngblood said. ``It's such a blessing. We've gotten calls from seniors saying it's the only gift they received.''

``Our community has proven to be very generous for our seniors,'' she said. ``They are so happy not only to receive a gift, but to have someone visit them during the holidays. People tend to think of Ventura County as totally affluent, but there are more needs here than most of us know. We're thankful to be able to help in some little way.''

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