Photo by James A. McBride
Lisa Fiorentino, second from right, who owns the Hello Gorgeous salons with her husband, Tony, helps load a truck with donated gifts in Blackwood. The Fiorentinos are working with the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help single mothers at Christmas.
WOODBURY HEIGHTS — There will be quite a few single mothers this year who will be enjoying a festive and fun-filled Christmas with their children thanks to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and a local businesswoman and her staff of hair stylists.
Lisa Fiorentino and her husband, Tony, own seven beauty salons called Hello Gorgeous in Camden and Gloucester counties.
“Every year we would have a Christmas Pollyanna in each store and in our headquarters to help those in need,” said Lisa. “But my girls in the salons this year wanted to do something different this year instead of the usual Pollyanna.”
When the parishes of St. Margaret of Woodbury Heights and St. John Vianney of Deptford merged into the new Infant Jesus Parish of Woodbury Heights, Lisa contacted the newly combined St. Vincent de Paul Society of the Infant Jesus Parish to offer to aid them in their goal of helping the needy in the area.
“Each of our stores is helping two families,” said Lisa, “and my husband and I and the staff members in our corporate office are helping two other families.”
She noted that St. Vincent de Paul gave Hello Gorgeous the names of families with as many as three children that needed help. Lisa and her crew were given turkeys for the families and all the essentials for a tasty dinner and items necessary for a Christmas breakfast, Lisa said.
“The girls in each store pooled their money for gifts and specifically asked St. Vincent de Paul for single moms,” she said, noting that she employs many single moms in her salons.
“We bought clothes and toys for the children in each family,” Lisa explained. “This year we went out and bought a style of winter boots called Uggs for the girls which can cost as much as $100 a pair.”
This past Sunday, the women from Hello Gorgeous went to the gym at the old St. Margaret’s Parish in Woodbury Heights with a box truck filled with food and clothes and presents from the salon and St. Vincent de Paul for as many as 134 families, including those being helped by Hello Gorgeous. Baskets were made and everything was prepared to be delivered to the families who would enjoy a great Yuletide this year.
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