Holmdel Businesses Raise Money To Help Bell Works Custodian

HOLMDEL, NJ — The people who work at Bell Works in Holmdel created an online fundraiser with one rather unique goal: To help the Bell Works maintenance man get a new set of teeth.

The fundraiser was launched last month by Paola Zamudio, the creative director at Bell Works. Bell Works is the former Bell Labs/Alcatel-Lucent building in Holmdel; Ralph Zucker purchased the abandoned two-million-square-foot facility in 2013, and revitalized it into the thriving white-collar office "metroburb" that it is today.

Herman Pruss is a Bell Works custodian, a job he's had for the past five years. Pruss, or Herman as he's known around the sprawling complex, says he loves his job, and he loves to stop and chat with the hundreds of people who work there.

"Herman is just one of those people that everybody knows," said Zamudio. "His personality is very outgoing and he talks to everybody. Everybody who works here knows Herman; he's like the unofficial ambassador of Bell Works."

But —

"I've always smiled with my mouth shut because I know I have bad teeth," Pruss told Patch.

The 56-year-old North Middletown resident does not currently have dental insurance. He said he looked into having dental implants a few years ago, when he had insurance under the Affordable Care Act, or what's commonly known as "Obamacare."

"But they told me I would still have to pay 80 percent, which was like $40,000," he said. "I said forget it."

Then Pruss was asked if he'd be interested in getting the implants if Bell Works tenants could raise enough money to pay for it.

"At first I didn't want to accept it, because that's charity and I'm not that kind of guy," Pruss said. "I told them, no, they have their own families to worry about."

But he met with the dentist who is located on the ground floor of Bell Works, Dr. Elona Kaso, owner of Dimension Dental. (There is also a Montessori school on the Bell Works ground floor, plus the Holmdel public library.) She gave him a full complimentary exam and told him the job would be extensive: Pruss would need to have extractions, bone grafts and then permanent teeth implants put in. Kaso would do the work for free, but she would have to bring in a specialist for the job. In total, the procedure will cost about $52,000.

"It's a complicated process," Zamudio admitted. "We still have a ways to go, but we thought all the tenants here would be happy to help. Even a $20 donation can go a long way."

"Herman is the most positive guy. He smiles with his eyes," she said. "He's someone we see in our metroburb community every day and we wanted to give him his smile back."

The donations have ranged from small to large: One of Bell Works' biggest tenants, JGS Insurance, donated $2,500, as did Jeff Garibaldi of The Garibaldi Group, commercial real estate brokers who are headquartered at Bell Works. Zucker's development company, Somerset Development, also donated $2,500, and Schultz personally gave $2,500.

So far, they've raised about $12,000 of their $52,000 goal.

Zamudio and Pruss are optimistic they will raise enough money to pay for the surgery.

"That's just how people are around here," said Pruss, who said he was grateful to everyone involved. "We're like one big family."

If you are interested in donating to the fundraiser, you can do so here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/gofundmecomfqu7np-help-one-of-our-own?mc_cid=9b0182cb94&mc_eid=80577c6cea

GoFundMe is a promotional partner with Patch.