Maureen McKenzie, Diane Thayer and Amanda Batson display holiday spirit – and some of the items that go into shopping bags destined for older folks who can use them in Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. The three are among the Elder Elves at The Center in Lower Village. Tammy Wells photo

KENNEBUNK – Everyone knows that Santa has a lot of helpers. One day last week, several got together at The Center in Lower Village to assemble big shopping bags of goodies for older folks who can use them.

The Center’s Elder Elves program takes place each year. It has been around for about 30 years.

This year, about eight “elves” assembled more than 70 bags containing surprises for residents of Arundel, Kennebunk, and Kennebunkport.

“It’s fun to do and it makes you feel good,” said Maureen McKenzie, who was among those filling the bags.

Mary-Ellen Prescott and Lisa Ruby help pack shopping bags destined for seniors in Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, a project of the Elder Elves at The Center. Tammy Wells photo

The Center Director, Bridget Dempsey, said each fall, the Elder Elves Committee gets together and decides what to include in the bags.

“We try to change it a bit each year,” she said. Some items are donated by the community, sometimes donations come in the form of cash to buy gifts, and some come from programs operated by The Center, like the knitting group.

Renee Ouellette was among several Cole Harrison employees who paid $1 to wear jeans at work on Fridays, raising $760, which was matched by the company, she said.

Municipal social service agencies in each of the three town halls forward the first names of seniors who would benefit from a gift bag, said Dempsey. Then, when all the presents are ready in their colorful shopping bags tied with festive ribbons, municipal workers pick them up and distribute them.

Packing and decorating the bags takes a couple of hours, and the elves who do it are practiced. It is an organized assembly-line affair, with each elf taking a shopping bag and depositing a gift from each of the several stacks of neatly wrapped items.

Colleen Geary left, and The Center director Bridget Dempsey decorate shopping bags for the Elder Elves program, which benefits more than 70 seniors in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel. Tammy Wells photo

What is inside the bag this year? Well, gifts are supposed to be secret – but there are personal care items, fun items, and, given the forecast for a cold winter – warm items.

The program has been part of The Center for more than 30 years.

Dempsey said The Center receives heartwarming notes after the holiday, like one from 2021 that said, “I feel like I got the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Among those helping was Colleen Geary, a member of Elder Elves and of a local group called Sand Witches, which volunteers to help various organizations.

“I’m having a blast,” she said as she attached a colorful bow to a shopping bag.