After the decorations are taken down and the presents are all put away, one franchisee reflects on a special season full of holiday spirit to last all year long.

When he made his service call list and checked it twice, Ed Moore, owner of Mr. Appliance of Pittsburgh made a stop at his local nursing home, Vincentian Regency.

This Christmas, Moore dressed up as Santa Claus and with the help of his wife, Mary Ann they provided holiday cheer to the more than 140 residents. Spread out over five parties in five days, Santa Moore visited each resident and gave them a gift provided by the resident's family or by volunteer donations. As for the residents that were too ill or bedridden to join the festivities, Santa Moore made a special stop in each room to personally wish them a Merry Christmas.

€There is no greater feeling than when you can make a residents life better by showing you care,€ said Moore. €The residents love this attention and I hope we bring them happiness and memories during the holiday season.€

To help each resident remember this special Christmas, Mary Ann took more than 200 pictures of the residents and nursing home staff. She then developed and placed the photo in a card as a gift to the residents to cherish all year long.

€Volunteering is a very rewarding and we build relationships with many people that we would never have met otherwise,€ said Moore. €I am so happy that through Mr. Appliance I am able to give back to my community.€

The Moore's started volunteering at the nursing home when Mary Ann's mother required constant care. They were surprised to find out that the nursing home had little to no budget for activities and that they are dependent upon volunteers to provide entertainment for the residents

Throughout the year the Moore's help with donations and fundraisers to provide decorations, prizes for bingo, crafts for special activities, donations for trips, computers and more. Also, they take a group of residents out to lunch, shopping or to a movie each month to give them time away from the nursing home.

€We may volunteer to help the residents, but we receive just as much or more joy then we give them,€ said Moore. €The bottom line is that we enjoy helping the residents. It's good for the heart.€

Mr. Appliance is North America's leading home & commercial appliance repair franchise system. Established in 1996, its franchises provide full-service home appliance repair and light commercial appliance repair services. Mr. Appliance has more than 150 locations throughout the United States and Canada and is consistently ranked among the top home service franchises by Entrepreneur magazine and other industry experts.