Mothers Matter Fulfills Dreams

From Kristy Davies in Gannett's Courier-Post:
Thousands of personal hygiene, health and beauty products lined about a dozen tables at the Grenloch Community Center in Washington Township. Green, purple, pink, blue, yellow and black shampoo and conditioner bottles stood straight in a line ready to be chosen for a gift basket that could make all the difference to a mother in need on Mother's Day through the Lauren Rose Albert Foundation's Mothers Matter program." I'm very particular because each one is a gift," said Susan Rose, 70, of Cherry Hill and the founder of the organization. "When a woman receives this it has to be beautiful." Scented and decorated soaps, creams, body butters, candles, perfumes, deodorant, lotions and make-up are all used to fill baskets for mothers who might otherwise not receive anything for Mother's Day. More than 2,500 baskets are being distributed this year to women at 45 facilities and organizations such as day cares, drug abuse counseling centers, domestic violence shelters, hospitals and pediatric medical facilities. Rose started the organization, based in Cherry Hill, two years after her daughter, Lauren Rose Albert, was killed in an automobile accident while on vacation in Morocco in 1999. After a year of grieving, friends and family encouraged Rose to do something to honor her daughter. That's when the foundation was born in 2001 after 265 baskets were delivered. By 2005 that amount had more than quadrupled."We receive a lot of support from schools, scout troops, businesses and organizations," Rose said as she weaved in and out of tables full of health and beauty products. "We try to make every basket special." Hundreds of volunteers work to sort, organize and pack the baskets, which are actually in bags because of the sheer number of them. From the end of March until the week before Mother's Day the volunteers work every day and night during the week and even come in on Saturdays. The Star Tour and Riding Club chapter 287 out of Deptford provides about 25 volunteers every Wednesday evening to help Rose with the project. Rose met one of the club's members, Kathy McKenna, of Mantua, at an event at Gloucester County College and the motorcycle club has been involved ever since." My wife and I have been doing this for a long time to help people out," said Frank Jennings, 45, of Woodbury, the club's president. "We each have three kids and know how hard it is on some families and we try to give back a little bit." One of the recipients of the baskets is the Greater Collingswood Children's Center. They have been a part of the program since its inception." It's really exciting for the kids, but also for the parents," said April Weaver, director of the children's center. "It's a natural thing for mothers to take care of the children, everyone, house and job, but not often do they think of themselves and then they're presented with a basket from people they don't know -- parents are blown away by the generosity." Businesses such as the Dollar Tree and Campbell Soup Co. gave toiletries in addition to items from the more than 150 donation bin locations throughout the area. Rose's close friends, Anne Cutler and Clare Carmody, both of Cherry Hill, gave up their golf and tennis activities for six weeks to help their friend with the cause by sorting and packing baskets." I want all of them to have a bar of soap," Cutler said as she maneuvered items in a bag. " All women like a lipstick and nail polish.""It's a good feeling," Carmody said. For now Rose is hoping to find a permanent location for the Mothers Matter program and continue giving baskets throughout the year." I want to do this year round and partner with some other organizations," she said. "I'd like to give baskets for other occasions."