Christmas In July: Parsippany Business Wins National Christmas Spirit Award

PARSIPPANY, NJ — There may be 167 days until Christmas, but the holiday's spirit is alive in the township. Cerbo's Parsippany Greenhouses earned a Christmas Spirit Award for its contributions to the Trees for Troops program.

Cerbo's has been around since 1913 and remains a community staple for Christmas tree purchases. In recent years, the business has participated in the Trees for Troops initiative, which provides Christmas trees for military members and their families.

The Christmas Spirit Foundation, which runs Trees for Troops, named five individuals and groups Monday as winners of the Christmas Spirit Award, which honors those who have played a major part in the initiative. Awardees included Tyler and Anthony Cerbo, representing Cerbo's.

Trees for Troops began in 2005 and has delivered 277,001 real Christmas trees. Fresh-cut Christmas trees are gathered together at farms and retail lots, and FedEx Freight picks them up. Then the trees get routed through their distribution centers and delivered to bases. Once the trees get unloaded, each base determines how and when to distribute them to personnel.

In past holiday seasons, Cerbo's has allowed people to donate money to help military members and their families get trees through the program. Last year, Christmas tree donations cost $30.