Providing healthy meals to struggling families on a cold Dec. 18 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church were volunteers who set up a food pantry in the church parking lot.
As so eloquently stated by Charles Dickens in “A Christmas Carol,” two men said, “It is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and the destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time.”
Taking those words to heart all year long are volunteers from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Family Promise of Southwest New Jersey, JR’s Angels and the St. John of God Mobile Food Pantry, who all gathered and braved the cold while providing provisions for 60 struggling families.
With a food pantry set up in the church’s back parking lot off Kings Highway in Clarksboro on Dec. 18, parents and guardians were able to select fresh vegetables and fruit from a large table in front of the bus. The inside of the brightly painted vehicle is set up to evoke a grocery store aisle with a variety of staples like beans, pasta and sauces, and even personal hygiene items.
“This is our third visit from the food pantry,” said Rosemarie Parker, CEO of Family Promise of Southwest New Jersey, which provides transitional homes to “housing insecure” families as they get back on their feet. “The partnership has been phenomenal. One of the homes is right here on the grounds of St. Peter’s Church.”
“They let us use the hall,” added Parker of office space Family Promise rents there.
In another structure on the grounds, people were dropping off gifts for the annual Adopt a Family program, when donors provide presents for entire families.
“This is our 20th anniversary,” noted Tony Killian, a member of the Family Promise Board of Trustees, ahead of a dinner this year that is expected to serve 75 families. “It started with a Christmas Eve holiday dinner in 2005.”
“Family Promise helps communities address the root causes of homelessness,” explains the organization’s website. “We address the issue holistically, providing prevention services before families reach crisis, shelter and case management when they become homeless, and stabilization programs once they have secured housing to ensure they remain independent.
“We tap existing local resources to empower families toward economic stability,” the site adds. “Families come to us in crisis; we help them rebuild their lives with new skills and ongoing support.”
Since 2005, the organization has served thousands of meals, assisted hundreds of families and welcomed volunteers from 24 church congregations throughout Gloucester County and Southwest New Jersey.
Also providing for the families last month were founder Joyce Rodak; Joanie Silvinio; and other volunteers from JR’s Angels Inc., who gave out grocery store gift cards. Members of the Rodak family started the charity after the death of Joyce’s husband, John, at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
The organization’s goal “is to provide help and assistance to communities, organizations and individuals in need.”
Other volunteers from all three charities and the church included Jeff Sanders of St. John of God Community Services, Kristy Kazelskis, Eileen Rothstein, Nancy Kuerzi, Richard Petrelli, Nico Petrelli and Doug Agren.
