MILTON, Fla. (WKRG) — A former News Channel 8 producer is making Christmas special for more than 100 residents at a nursing home.
Britney Gooden’s father Danny Gooden died unexpectedly in June and this will be her first Christmas without him.
“We just really miss him and nothing is going to bring him back,” Gooden said. “I was trying to think of a way to give back and maybe bring joy to someone else.”
Gooden reached out last week to Santa Rosa Health and Rehabilitation Center where she volunteered in high school. She started shopping for a couple of seniors there.
“Then one turned into 10, that turned into 15, turned into 20 and now we are where we are.”
Now, her house is full of gift bags. She adopted 104 residents for the program “Be a Santa for a senior” and she did it in Danny’s honor. She posted to Facebook and her friends stepped up to help.
“I think that it’s just great that so many people put their trust in what I’m doing and wanted to help out and saw that it was going to a good cause,” she said.
She encourages others to do the same in their communities.
“It’s so easy and so simple and it’s not that expensive to lend a helping hand to somebody,” she said.
Gooden plans to deliver the gifts on Friday.
