Members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Somerset Hills, based in Somerville, made a big impression with their donation to Operation Shoebox at the Nov. 10 event in Manville.
At the group’s third annual Christmas and Winter holiday packing event at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2290, a check was presented to Rod Hirsch, executive director of Operation Shoebox NJ, representing the church’s donation to the project for U.S. military personnel stationed overseas.
Hundreds of volunteers were busy with sorting, carrying, assembling, packing, taping, addressing, and stacking the 1,200 care packages, but Mr. Hirsch was so appreciative of the gift from UUCSH that he took to the stage and stopped the operation in order to acknowledge “over $700 received from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Somerset Hills.”
The enthusiastic applause from the volunteers that greeted the announcement said that UUCSH is certainly doing the right thing and is making a difference in donating the contents of weekly collection plates.
The church donates its weekly Sunday services offertory to a charitable organization.
Its Community Plate program began last fall and has collected over $15,000. This money went to help organizations that need a boost to continue their good works for others.
During October, they ear-marked several Sunday collections for Operation Shoebox NJ, an organization that ships care packages containing personal care items (such as toiletries, snacks, and socks) to U.S. service men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq.
UUCSH also helped this organization in May by collecting and donating the items requested.
In October, they helped defray the cost shipping the parcels with over $700 in donations.
Over the past 12 months, needed funds were donated to 15 different local and regional organizations, including The Resource Center for Women and Their Families, and Manville and Bound Brook flood victims.
More information is available by calling the office at 908-927-0601 or visiting www.uucsh.org.

