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The 10-year-old lost her mom Marisa Aversa on Sept. 23 to breast cancer, and nothing has felt quite the same since then.
The Christmas cheer was warmer than ever Thursday evening for Abigail, though, when dozens of community members came knocking at her door for the 8th annual Operation Santa Boone.
The project was started by Liz Maresca of the Health Department and is named after Fair Lawn's Detective David Boone, who retired in 2016, and dresses up as Santa.
The Fair Lawn Police Department and Rescue Squad escorted carolers, council members and friends of Aversa to her home, surprising her with gifts -- along with lots of love.
"When you have a child, you look at that baby and say, 'Please don't let anything happen to that baby and also to me, until that baby is table to take care of herself,'" Maresca said. "It means a lot to be able to take care of this baby in her mom's memory."
Santa Boone didn't stop there. Aversa joined the crew for the second stop of the evening -- the Horowitz family -- who earlier this month lost their home and all of its contents in a house fire.
The carolers sung Hanukkah songs as the family received a new television, photo album -- particularly sentimental to mom Shani Horowitz -- and toys for Dede, Tani and Naftali.
"It's hard to give them back the stuff they lost," Shani said. "It's a good community coming together."
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