By Joel Keller
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
Every year around this time, you hear the stories about neighbors or friends who decide to volunteer at soup kitchens or toy-drive campaigns. Something about the holiday season makes people even more generous with their time than they might be during the rest of the year.
Residents at Cedar Crest, in Pompton Plains, N.J., already demonstrate a high level of volunteerism all year long. But when the holidays roll around, their efforts kick into high gear. Individuals and small groups band together to mount highly organized, campus-wide efforts to aid those in need.
Gift cards for ailing teens
“I work on gifts for holiday parties for pediatric cancer patients,” says Ruth Walker, who volunteers for a number of different organizations year-round. In the past, Walker has organized collections of toys, children’s clothing, and other materials for the younger patients. These items are usually distributed at holiday parties given for the kids, who are at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson, N.J.
But this year, she’s been asked to collect for the teenage patients. Because they’re harder to shop for, she’s gotten the word out to residents that, instead of buying specific items for the collection, the best thing to do is get gift cards from area stores.
On three Wednesdays in November, residents were stationed at tables in each of Cedar Crest’s three clubhouses collecting the gift cards. The cards were then sent to Healing the Children, a Hawthorne, N.J.-based charity, who distributed them.