Spirit of giving lasts year-round in Warren parish
By Jim Shea
Correspondent
During World War II, Jack Billerman stormed the beaches at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Today, the 85-year-old member of Our Lady of the Mount Parish, Warren, is still commanding the troops. He organizes the parish clothing ministry for the needy.
“I want four fellows down in the bottom, four guys on the stairs, 10 guys on the 53-foot trailer parked outside,” he called out to a group of 60 volunteers at the parish Dec. 10. “And, the rest of you, form a line outside in the snow.”
Many of the volunteers were members of Knights of Columbus Council No. 11409 and members of the parish’s Good Samaritan Ministry. Their mission that cold, snowy morning – load 50,000 pounds of donated clothing, 25 tons, onto the truck so it could be given to the poor and needy in the Appalachian region of Kentucky and Tennessee.
“Loading the truck is not a simple operation,” Billerman said. “Things have to be brought out of the Chapel basement, moved upstairs, out the door, through the snow and into our trailer.”
Benedictine Father Giles Hayes established the program to collect clothing for the people of Appalachia more than 30 years ago while working at St. Mary’s Abbey Delbarton School, Morristown. When Billerman retired as distribution manager for the L’Oreal Cosmetic Corporation 18 years ago, he wanted to go into hospice work, but his pastor at the time, Father William J. Hewitt, convinced him to start a program for the needy that would assist Father Hayes’ efforts as well.
Father Hayes is still involved with Delbarton School, currently serving as a college counselor.
“Every day, we have from anywhere up to 25 people sorting and packing,” Billerman said. “The clothes come from all over.”
Approximately 75 to 80 percent of the donated clothing comes from members of the parish, with the remainder donated by nearby communities.
Over the years, the program has continually grown. “It took us 10 years to get our first million pounds of clothes,” Billerman said. “It took six years to get our second million and we’ll probably end up with our third million after five more years.”
In addition to sending a truck filled with 50,000 pounds of clothing to Appalachia every December, the parish also donates a truck filled with 15,000 pounds of clothing to the Cancer Concept Group every month.
“What we do here is very special work,” said Father Sean W. Kenney, pastor. “For years, men in this parish have gathered to load trucks, wonderful people who give of themselves during the Christmas season.”
“It is so invigorating to see so many guys come out to assist,” said Roger Allen, a member of the Knights of Columbus. “It is probably the most active way to contribute and be a good Christian.”
Ryer Tegga helped load the truck with his teenage son Jonathan and Christina Ziegler, an exchange student from Germany. Ziegler was amazed at the day’s activity. “He said, ‘It was so much fun. It was so good. I never participated in anything like this in Germany,’” relayed Tegga.
“Giving and receiving is what Christmas is all about,” said Father Kenney. “It’s the Gospel message, ‘Whatsoever you do, you do for me.’ Literally, we clothe the naked.”
Donated clothing for the Our Lady of the Mount clothing ministry can be left inside the door of the parish chapel. For more information about the program, call the parish office, (908) 647-1075.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law