By: centraljersey.com
When a police officer knocked on the door to his apartment at the Lawrence Plaza apartment building a few days before Christmas last year, Ira Serle didn’t know what to expect.
But the police officer, who was out of uniform and off duty, appeared at Mr. Serle’s doorstep to present him with a Christmas basket – compliments of a special effort by township resident Norma Taylor and her friends.
Mr. Serle, who is visually handicapped, said a neighbor told him that someone would be delivering Christmas baskets to the residents at the affordable rental housing development on Princeton Pike.
"When I heard a knock on the door and he said who he was and mentioned the food basket, I was shocked. This is great," said Mr. Serle, who has lived at the Lawrence Plaza development since 1991.
"I was surprised, to be honest," he said. "It really made me feel special. I felt really, really happy. I just lost my mother two years prior. I was really thinking about her, and I was getting down. Now, I thought someone cared."
Now, Ms. Taylor and her daughter, Mary Weber, hope to repeat that effort and deliver at least as many Christmas baskets next month. Ms. Taylor, her son Bill Taylor Jr. and Ms. Weber delivered 70 baskets to residents at the two affordable rental housing developments – the Lawrence Plaza on Princeton Pike, and the Alvin E. Gershen Apartments in Hamilton – in 2009.
That’s why Ms. Taylor and Ms. Weber are asking for financial donations to "bring a smile on someone’s face this Christmas," they said.
It costs about $25 to $30 to fill a basket with food. The women purchase the food and, with some helpers, fill the baskets and deliver them.
The deadline to contribute is Dec. 15.
Ms. Taylor, who is a dispatcher at the Lawrence Township Police Department and who works part time at the Saul Funeral Homes in Hamilton, was inspired to take on the project last year after she saw the success of a similar effort at Thanksgiving a few weeks earlier. Ms. Weber is a funeral home director at Saul Funeral Homes.
Saul Funeral Homes delivered 16 food baskets to recipients at the Alvin E. Gershen Apartments for Thanksgiving, Ms. Taylor said. When she saw how poor the seniors were, she said she wanted to deliver 10 more baskets for Christmas.
Ms. Taylor told her co-workers at the Police Department that all she wanted for Christmas was money for food baskets. The Police Benevolent Association, Local 119, and the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 209, which represent Lawrence police officers, contributed to the effort last year.
Last year, the baskets overflowed with hot chocolate, cereal, tuna, peanut butter, jelly, rice, noodles, snacks, vegetables, soup, apples, macaroni and cheese – and each one topped off with a red bow. The funeral home stuffed each basket with a $25 gift card to the Acme or ShopRite grocery stores.
For more information, please contact Ms. Taylor at 609-954-4328 or Ms. Weber at 609-249-5408. Checks may be made payable to Norma Taylor or Mary Weber and mailed to them in care of the Saul Funeral Homes, Inc., at 3795 Nottingham Way, Hamilton, NJ 08690.
