Holiday Gift Bag Drive for Colorado’s Seniors

Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network and Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Colorado (APABA) delivered 260 gift bags to local area seniors last December. Donations were received from community members including Julie Wilson, who donated 38 bags in honor of spreading generosity on her 38th birthday. Youth Creates and the International Leadership Foundation donated 60 bags filled with winter items and fun activities. Great Wall Chinese Academy provided 50 gift bags, which included cards written in Asian languages. GTG Marketing donated beanies and hats and the Asian Roundtable of Colorado donated 500 face masks.

Gift bags were presented to Chinese seniors at Happy Living Adult Daycare, Korean seniors in Aurora and east Denver, seniors living at Sunset Towers in downtown Denver, and the nonprofit A Little Help.

Thanks to the generosity of APABA, Bradford, Ltd., and LGBT Bar Association of Colorado, hot meals from Kokoro Restaurant and Hong Kong Café were delivered to seniors at Sunset Towers and Happy Living Adult Daycare, in conjunction with the gift bags. Other organizations that contributed to this community effort included: Denver Asian Real Estate Association, Sakura Foundation, Asian Chamber of Commerce, Boulder County Bar Association, Colorado Dragon Boat, and National Association of Asian American Professionals.

2020 was especially difficult for seniors, many of whom experienced higher rates of mental illness and anxiety due to the isolation. Thanks to the kindness of the community for bringing them much needed joy.