Lights of Love at Cadbury Senior Lifestyles, Cherry Hill

Cadbury Senior Lifestyles, Cherry Hill, is excited to welcome in the holiday season with its annual Lights of Love event Tuesday, Dec. 9 at the Cherry Hill, New Jersey, community.

The festival, which is open to staff, residents and their friends and family, will kick off at 5 p.m. with the lighting of the Christmas tree. Hors d’oeuvres and hot drinks will be served at 4:30 p.m., at which time residents and their guests will adorn the tree with ornaments and stars to celebrate the lives of their loved ones.

Ahead of the event, attendees purchase the ornaments—a star or a tag—as part of a fundraiser for the community’s benevolent fund, which helps residents who have exhausted their funds and can no longer afford their monthly service fee through no fault of their own. Contributors pay $20 for a tag, and $50 for a star. After the holiday season has ended, donors receive the ornament they purchased along with a note and receipt thanking them for their donation.

As part of the festivities this year, the community is also holding a “wreath stroll,” in which wreaths decorated by the community’s vendors will be exhibited and placed up for silent auction; the wreaths will be given to the highest bidders at the end of the night. Money raised through the wreath stroll will also be donated to the community’s benevolent fund.

The event will be rich with holiday cheer, including carolers and a wandering violinist. Each of the dominant religions will be represented at the event with various decorations, and the community will be presenting a special “Diversity Speech” as part of the program of events.

Last year, there were about 90 people at the festival, and this year the community expects to have about 100 people. The event has been a holiday staple for the community for more than 20 years.

“The Lights of Love event brings together our Cadbury family in a beautiful way. Residents and their families, staff and theirs, enjoy warmly welcoming this season and all its merriments on this special occasion,” said Arnie Weiner, associate director and CFO for Cadbury Senior Lifestyles, Cherry Hill.