JACKSON – A township resident seeking to give something back to the community found a unique way to use his mechanical skills and to provide money to a good cause.
Gary Moliver is a resident of the township’s Westlake Golf and Country Club community who has been replacing garage door springs since November 18, 2009 along with doing some other minor garage door related repairs.
He has collected fees from those he helped that have gone to the Jackson Food Pantry and to date, he’s donated $26,695.
“When I moved into Jackson in 2004, I volunteered for the Jackson Food Pantry. I used to go down there once a week and stock shelves and this was done on Saturday mornings and later on, I found it just wasn’t convenient so I stopped going,” Moliver said.
Moliver added, “in 2009 two of my garage doors broke and being handy I replaced them myself and then out of nowhere came the idea to do that for residents of Westlake and donate the money to the Jackson Food Pantry.”
When asked about the number of homes in need of his unique service, Moliver responded, “I’ve replaced 327 springs. On each garage door there are two springs and when I go to do a job, I replace both springs even if only one is broken.”
“Over the years at one point, I had a mentor, a fellow who lived here who has recently passed away who I believe worked for Liberty Garage Door and he installed the garage doors in Westlake. I don’t remember how I met him but when I used to have a problem, I would call and he’d come running over and walk me through it and that helped a lot,” Moliver said.
Moliver noted that he was mechanically inclined “and so I’ve been able to muddle my way through a lot of odds and ends and repairs not necessarily related to the replacement of the springs.”
“In replacement of the springs alone, I’ve raised $18,675. Now I also do other repairs, hinges and cables and things of that nature and that has amounted to $6,414 and then there is a third category of donations and that has amounted to $1,586,” he added.
He explained that, “donations fall into two categories, one category is when people who have found out what I was doing and they make an outright donation to Jackson Food Pantry in my name and the other one is when someone calls me and I go over there and I can’t do anything for them, like if the motor is burned out or whatever it might be so they give me a donation also.”
“I’ve seen people who have moved in back in 2001 and they’ve never had a problem with their garage doors. You never know when one might break,” he said. “I buy the majority of the springs at The Home Depot,” Moliver added.
He noted, “if everything goes perfect, I can replace two springs in about a half hour and if it doesn’t go perfect it can be a couple of hours,” he added with laugh. “It is usually a half hour to 45 minutes. It is something I can do and I know I am helping people.”
Moliver said, “I am retired now and I have been since 2004. I was in technical sales. In December 2017 the Jackson Food Pantry invited me to a dinner they were having where they gave me a plaque thanking me. I live alone. I don’t do it for the praise. It is just something I want to do and people who know about what I do think it is wonderful that I am doing it.”
Jackson Food Pantry Director Joy Rende told The Jackson Times, “He is an amazing guy. Over the years he has given us over $26,000. We have been the recipients of his generosity for years. I think we don’t recognize people enough and it makes me feel good. The Food Pantry really, really appreciates what he does as we’ve seen a 30% increase in what we do to help keep our clients happy and to reduce the food anxiety people have. We are incredibly grateful to him.”
Moliver is also the co-president of the Westlake Men’s Club and he is currently seeking a speaker at one of the organization’s meetings concerning the history of Jackson Township.
The Jackson Food Pantry can be found on social media through facebook.com/JacksonFoodPantryJacksonNewJersey/ The non-profit organization can also be reached by calling 732- 833-6800 or by e-mailing Pantry Director Joy Rende at jrende@att.net.
The group’s website is JacksonFoodPantry.com and if you have a garage door problem you may wish to e-mail Moliver at gary91@optonline.net
