Helene Bassin, left, and Alison Levy are the cochairs of Marlboro Hadassah’s annual holiday gift wrap project at Freehold Raceway Mall. Photo by Jill Huber
January 22, 2008
For almost 20 years, the Marlboro chapter of Hadassah has operated a gift-wrapping booth at Freehold Raceway Mall during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
As a result, shoppers have left the mall with beautifully wrapped packages — and the oncology unit of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem has been the recipient of more than $600,000.
“We did our homework and we knew we could make this project happen,” said Alison Levy of Marlboro, who along with Helene Bassin of Manalapan initiated the project in 1990. “But as sure as we were about our success, I don’t think we ever dreamed that we would raise $600,000 in 18 years.”
During the construction phase of the mall, which officially opened for business 18 years ago, Bassin and Levy brought their idea to other members of the Marlboro Hadassah chapter (more than 400 women are members of the chapter, which was formed in 1973). They presented a letter of request and a video to the management team at the Freehold facility.
The mall constructed a gift-wrapping booth for the chapter’s operations. During the first holiday season, the Hadassah women — members of the Marlboro group along with volunteers from chapters in Freehold and Jackson Township in Ocean County — were inundated by requests to wrap holiday packages.
The amount of money raised during the 2007 holiday season is still being tabulated. After expenses, the bulk of the money (including tips) collected during the all-volunteer effort goes directly to the hospital, Bassin said.
“I think people like the idea that they’re contributing to something worthwhile and charitable,” she said. “They leave with a gift that looks beautiful and a good feeling about themselves.”
The Hadassah volunteers feel pretty good too, Levy added.
“All the Hadassah volunteers truly give of themselves,” she said. “There is always an incredible showing of love and dedication to a worthy cause. It makes us proud of what we’re doing.”
Levy estimated that approximately three miles of wrapping paper are used every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.
Every October, chapter member Wendy Heifetz of Millstone begins contacting volunteers and arranging schedules. Approximately 100 volunteers staff the booth during the season (they are at the booth every hour of every day that the mall is open), and more than 1,700 person-hours are devoted to making each annual project a success. On the busiest days, as many as 10 women are gift-wrapping simultaneously.
“No job is too big or too small,” said Levy. “You name it, and I guarantee that we have wrapped it. We’ve wrapped musical instruments, furniture, golf bags, golf clubs, skateboards and other sports equipment, microwave ovens and other appliances, televisions, video and audio equipment, sound systems, and just about every size and item of clothing you can imagine. But I think my personal favorite, and greatest challenge, will always be the treadmill.”
Throughout the past 18 years, many shoppers have shared personal, and often poignant, holiday stories with the Hadassah volunteers. Others present the wrappers with beverages, sandwiches, soup, cheese and crackers, fruit, cookies, and other snacks to help sustain their energy levels.
“The customers’ devotion to us, and ours to each of them, is something that never changes,” Bassin said.
“We look forward to doing this each year,” Levy said. “Everyone who participates has a busy schedule and a busy life, but they still find time to be a part of this worthy cause.”
And if anyone is interested in volunteering but doesn’t consider herself to be very proficient at gift wrapping, it’s not a problem, Bassin said.
“We can train anyone,” she said. “Anyone. All it takes is the desire to help.”
Additional information about Hadassah’s gift-wrapping projects is available from the Southern New Jersey Region of Hadassah’s Neptune office at 732-643-1100.