Adopt-a-Senior program brings smiles to the elderly

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The holidays are about spending time with family and friends, but many people - particularly seniors - don't always have loved ones nearby.

Now, one program is making sure seniors aren't forgotten and get their special Christmas wishes.

"I have never thought of a senior being adopted, and I feel so good about it," Mary Ann Harris-Mullet said.

She is just one of 400 older Americans gifted by the Adopt-a-Senior program, a charity that grants small wishes and makes sure no man or woman is forgotten over the holidays.

"I felt abandoned," said Eileen Kelly, who used to own a bar in Manhattan. "I had never realized it, because I'd always been around people, just people, people, people. Then all of a sudden I was by myself. It is frightening."

Eileen gets so excited to get a pin or a red lipstick, while Roxine says she has seen her neighbors request and get something as simple as toothpaste.

"Something like toothpaste and toothbrush, how important it was to them, that's so precious," she said. "It's for a lot of people that don't have anybody, don't have any friends come visit them, don't have anybody, anything."

Annye Cohen is the woman behind Adopt-a-Senior, and she, co-founder Bill Cowan and their team do the shopping, wrapping and delivering.

"These ladies...they're my family," Cohen said. "I love them. We send them postcards when we go on vacation, we call them on their birthdays, we send them little gifts throughout the year."

Cohen went to give Mary Ann a necklace and saw she had dental floss around her neck. Now, she has a necklace, but more importantly, a friend.

"I call them little angel," Kelly said.

She and other adoptees feel connected and cared for.

"I feel like a kid again," she said.

And family is priceless, especially this time of year.