Away in a Manger, No crib for his Bed

The other day when I was getting some Christmas Carol Lyrics printed out for our Woodbury Friends Meeting Christmas Get-together tonight, Friday, when we sing and decorate the tree, I was struck by the line about Jesus Christ having no crib and it reminded me of the homeless people in tents in Camden NJ and Kensington, Pa. Fortunately, today, when I was up in the attic looking for something else, I found a brand new, never used red sleeping bag and a fleece comforter, which I was able to drop off at Mr. Jim Piscatelli's garage door today while running errands. He is a volunteer who takes clothes and food and other useful items to the homeless in the tent cities mentioned above. This will be the fourth delivery I have managed to make of bags of clothes and canned foods from friends and neighbors and myself.

When I texted him to ask if the homeless had dogs and cats to feed and if they could use dry food, he said they could but to limit it to smaller bags and boxes of biscuits, so next week, I will buy small bags of dog and cat food to drop off at his garage, hopefully, in time for his Christmas in Kensington event.

In case anyone reads this and would like to help, Mr. Piscatelli's house is on the corner of St. Martin's and New Jersey Ave, in Haddon Heights. Take a right turn off Kings Hwy if traveling north, onto St. Martins until you come to New Jersey. His house is 1901, the corner, and you can turn left and put your items, in plastic trash bags for safety from the damp, by his garage door. I usually call first and let him know they are coming. I will be dropping off the dog and cat food next week. His phone number is 609-332-9484 and his mailing address is 1901 New Jersey Ave., Haddon Heights, NJ 08035 in case you ight want to send a card and a donation instead of dropping off bags. I believe when he does Christmas in Kensington, he gives the people little decorated Christmas Trees so a donation can help with that! I may send a donation as well. If you want to read an article about his work, look him up via google and there is a column in "The Sun" about him and his volunteer helpers.

I can tell you from the way I felt dropping off that sleeping bag and blanket, that it is a Christmas blessing to think you helped someone cold and homeless to have a warm place to sleep.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Jo Ann (you can reach me at wrightj45@yahoo.com if you have a comment. Please don't bother with the comment function on the blog as it is polluted with robot spam)