The 2024 cooks tour of Moorestown, hosted by the Virtua Memorial Auxiliaries, returns on Wednesday, Dec. 4, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Now in its 58th year, the event will offer guests the chance to experience five homes, all decorated for the holiday season.
“It’s very unique compared to some of the other tours that happen at Christmas time and in the month of December,” said Karen Miller, chair of the tour committee. “There’s just something very special about it, and it’s so loved by everybody. We’ve had wonderful turnouts, and this year is going to be – absolutely – another wonderful tour.”
“It really does take a village to run this event, even though Karen is a force,” offered Caryn Lynch, consultant to the tour committee. “There are a lot of people behind the scenes, not just the homeowners but volunteers and people that are helping to decorate the houses, and businesses that are sharing their items for sale that day … There’s just a lot of people in the community that are involved and it’s really fun to see it all come together.
“Involving family and friends is so wonderful, because it just spreads joy within friend groups and within families, but I also think it’s important just for the sustainability of this event and this project,” she added, “just to keep it going and just giving it new life each year with the addition of new volunteers and new businesses that help out.”
Proceeds from the tour will benefit Virtua Health’s new Mobile Health and Cancer Screening Unit, which aims to reduce health disparities and ensure community members who are uninsured or underinsured have access to life-saving cancer screenings. The 40-foot vehicle is staffed by a board-certified clinician and a technologist who provide on-site screenings and health education. Screenings include 3D mammography, clinical breast exams and prostate, colorectal and cervical cancer checks.
“The cause (the mobile unit) that we are raising money for this year, that helps support the mobile fleet that Virtua Health has instituted and organized and utilized, and we are seeing this just expand each year,” Miller explained. “They are helping the underserved and underinsured in both Burlington and Camden County and some parts of Gloucester County.”
For more information on the unit or Virtua community-building programs like the Eat Well Mobile Farmers Market, visit www.virtua.org/about/community-programs#.
“It’s really not just about spreading holiday joy,” Lynch pointed out. “It’s so enhanced by the fact that this project has such a great cause and benefits such wonderful programs for the community. It’s a blessing in so many ways for our community.”
To purchase tickets for the cooks tour, visit www.givetovirtua.org/partner-with-us/community-partners/cooks-tour-of-moorestown/.
