HomeFront holiday drive receives a bounty of baskets

Homeless families promised a traditional Thanksgiving

By: Lea Kahn
   There is no mistaking what’s inside the large plastic storage tub whose lid is decorated with a festive paper plate and matching napkin, plastic utensils, a miniature pumpkin and a Pilgrim made of felt — it’s the ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner.
   The storage tub, prepared by the O’Neil family of Cobblestone Way in Lawrence is one of dozens of Thanksgiving baskets that were awaiting distribution from HomeFront’s warehouse on Princeton Avenue this week.
   HomeFront received about 600 baskets that were distributed to its clients and to other needy families by Tuesday, said Lauren Fine, community education coordinator for the nonprofit group. The group collected about the same number of baskets in 2004, she said.
   "We are very happy to have what we have received," Ms. Fine said. "People’s wallets are really tight. The fact that they will go out of their way to make a basket for a family they don’t know is fantastic. We give the family the tools to make a Thanksgiving dinner."
   Connie Mercer, executive director of HomeFront said a special Thanksgiving meal will also be prepared and served to over 60 HomeFront clients living at the Family Preservation Center in Ewing.
   "In addition, clients living at the Huchet House in Trenton, a transitional living program for women expecting their first child, will be cooking their own Thanksgiving meal with food provided by donors," Ms. Mercer said.
   The Princeton Packet, Lawrence Ledger and Hopewell Valley News participated in the drive and collected more than 30 baskets from the public and employees.
   HomeFront has conducted a Thanksgiving food drive for many years, Ms. Fine said. Food is central to what the group does, she said, adding that HomeFront started out by feeding families living in the motels on Brunswick Pike.
   The holiday can be very difficult for families living in poverty, she said. For people who don’t have enough food for an ordinary meal, preparing a Thanksgiving dinner can be daunting, she pointed out. It is important for the families’ morale and self-esteem to be able to have holiday plans, and the food baskets give them the tools they need to survive and thrive, she added.
   Inside the O’Neil family’s tub are the usual Thanksgiving fixings — cranberry sauce, canned vegetables, canned fruit, soup, gravy and dessert mix, said 21-year-old Michael O’Neil Jr. Donors put in the baskets supermarket certificates for HomeFront to redeem for turkeys and distribute to the families.
   "I wish I could take credit for it, but the basket was my mother’s idea," said Mr. O’Neil, a Mercer County Community College student who lives with his parents, Michael and Sandy O’Neil, and his 17-year-old brother, William.
   When his mother learned that HomeFront was seeking Thanksgiving baskets for its clients, she suggested the family gather ingredients and prepare a basket, Mr. O’Neil said. The basket won the $50 first prize for creativity in a contest sponsored by The Ledger and The Princeton Packet. "It feels great to win, I guess, but we weren’t doing it to win," Mr. O’Neil said. "The contest was a great idea. It’s the publicity. Anytime there is a competition, people try to ‘out do’ each other. That’s a good thing, because they want to give as much as possible."
   Mr. O’Neil said the family did most of the legwork, going to the grocery store with a shopping list. It was really a family project, he said. His mother, who is a former teacher at the Ben Franklin Elementary School in Lawrence, decorated the lid, he added.
   Gathering the items to prepare a Thanksgiving basket and dropping the basket off at HomeFront is a good idea, Mr. O’Neil said. It cuts through the bureaucracy and red tape and allows people to give directly to the community, he said.
   In addition to the O’Neil basket, the Schwimmer family of Holly Lane in Lawrence — Reed and Sarah Schwimmer and daughters Kelsey, 9, and Maddy, 6 — also prepared a basket — a laundry basket full of food items and decorated with plastic letters of the alphabet. Inside the basket are food items representing every letter of the alphabet.
   "We wanted to make a basket to help other people who don’t have food for Thanksgiving," Kelsey said. "The letters (on the basket) were my mom’s idea. The letter X was a hard one, so we had extra Crispy Corn. Q was Quaker Oats."
   Ms. Schwimmer said the girls sat around the dining room table and brainstormed ideas, using the letters of the alphabet. Then, they went to the grocery store to fill the basket. They decided to use a laundry basket, because it can be used again, their mother said.
   The Schwimmer girls won a $15 runner-up prize for the alphabet basket.
   The honorable mentions for most creative basket were Helen and Margaret Schrayer of Princeton Borough; Alison Pittman of Princeton Township; Isabelle Hager-Johnson of West Windsor; Stacey Glynn-Brady, Amy Pearlmutter, John and Kelly Quinlan, and Carl and Shirley Swanson of Hopewell Township; Girl Scout Troop 910 of Pennington; and Lisa Roth and Pete Hesler of Ewing.