CBS3 SummerFest: Mount Laurel Man Has Built, Donated More Than 2,000 Custom Birdhouses To Hospital Patients
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (CBS) -- Many of us make plans for what we'll do in retirement. One man in Mount Laurel is using his talents to give back to the community.
It's a labor of love that is offering healing one birdhouse at a time.
Out of wood, Bob Taylor has given life to birds that he has carefully carved. Those ornaments decorate the Mount Laurel home he shares with his wife of 61 years.
As a retired architect now in his 80s, it was no surprise when Taylor transitioned his focus to birdhouses.
"I enjoy doing it and they are appreciated. I donate every single one," he said.
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Taylor's designs range from the whimsical to sporty. His early birdhouses were robust, but since 2015, he has opted to dress up smaller ones and to paint with a purpose.
"He takes the birdhouse very serious. He comes in with his little pad of paper and he asks us all questions, what color do you want," medical secretary Nancy Wasnesky said.
Since 2015, Taylor has donated well over 2,000 custom birdhouses.
"Mostly for patients with all different types of cancer," Taylor said.
The project before him is an order from Virtua Hospital.
"It's not enough just to donate the birdhouses, he wants feedback. He wants to know what we are looking for," said Randi Solden, a clinical nurse navigator at Virtua.
It's just the kind of gesture that strikes the heart of staff and patients.
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"Our patients love it. They come in and they see it and I say, 'you can take one home,' and they think that's the greatest thing in the world," Wasnesky said.
And the giving continues. Recently, a patient who had received a birdhouse left Taylor a gift.
"Inside are 20 different birdhouses which I can certainly use and I appreciate it," Taylor said.
Outside of his home, faint chirping can be heard from the creation he has hung by his door. Birdhouses represent a place of nesting, of comfort -- exactly what a person in treatment deserves.
