Food cupboard’s donations lower than usual this year


PHOTOS BY VERONICA YANKOWSKI Janet Curtis, (above) who chairs the Welfare Committee for the board of directors at the Jamesburg Presbyterian Church, says the cupboards can use more donations of all types of food for the needy. At right, Dick Asch helps David Modzelewski, of Boy Scout Troop 60 in Monroe, carry boxes of food at the Jamesburg Presbyterian Church on Friday.PHOTOS BY VERONICA YANKOWSKI Janet Curtis, (above) who chairs the Welfare Committee for the board of directors at the Jamesburg Presbyterian Church, says the cupboards can use more donations of all types of food for the needy. At right, Dick Asch helps David Modzelewski, of Boy Scout Troop 60 in Monroe, carry boxes of food at the Jamesburg Presbyterian Church on Friday.

Deacon at Jamesburg church says Sept. 11 may have affected supply

By lynn K. Barra

Staff Writer

JAMESBURG — Needy families know that they can count on the Jamesburg Presbyterian Church on Gatzmer Avenue for the food they may need during the holiday season.


For more than 20 years, the church’s Board of Deacons has operated a food bank known in the borough as the "food cupboard" where local families can pick up nonperishable goods throughout the year.

Typically, about 20 families benefit from the food made available at the cupboard each month, but that number doubles during the holiday season, according to Janet Curtis, a church deacon who chairs the food cupboard committee.

"The families we’re serving get hungry every month," Curtis said. "People think about these things [donating food] during the holidays, but people need food every month. We don’t look at it as a food drive. Every month we give people food because people are hungry every month."

Christmas is especially difficult for families, Curtis said, because of the need to pay for children’s gifts and to provide holiday meals at the same time.


VERONICA YANKOWSKI Maria Albano, 12, and her mother, Maria, of Monroe fill bags of donated food for the local needy at the Jamesburg Presbyterian Church Friday.VERONICA YANKOWSKI Maria Albano, 12, and her mother, Maria, of Monroe fill bags of donated food for the local needy at the Jamesburg Presbyterian Church Friday.

Income levels, loss of employment, family crises and a host of other reasons may cause some families to fall short on finding ways to pay for groceries at any time during the year, Curtis said, which is why the food cupboard is run year-round.

"Every month, people’s situations change," Curtis said. "The families we’re serving change all the time as people’s situations change. They may become more or less needy, but we always have families in need."

With help from local senior citizens and civic groups such as Boy Scout Troop 60, Curtis is able to supplement her food supply for the local families, who make arrangements to pick up at least two weeks’ worth of nonperishable goods at the church each month.

Troop 60 traditionally holds a food drive during the holiday season in which they go door to door dropping off brown bags. A note is attached to each bag requesting food donations, and the Scouts pick up the filled bags the following week, Curtis said.

Church members are also encouraged to drop off donations the first Sunday of each month, Curtis said, discussing some of the many ways she is able to keep her cupboard stocked with an ample food supply.

Boy Scout Troop 54 of Monroe and the Monroe High School Key Club held food drives to help Curtis build up her food supply for the current holiday season.

Many other community groups in both the borough and in Monroe also pitched in to collect food this year, according to Curtis, but she received less food than anticipated.

"We have a few more families to feed this year than in the past," Curtis said. "We received less food this year. I think everyone is feeling the effects of the World Trade Center attacks. They may be busy picking up the pieces of their lives and that could be why they couldn’t contribute food. More people may be out of work, too."

While Curtis was able to provide nonperishable goods to all the families in need this year, she said that because the food donations were lower than average, the food cupboard may not be able to provide assistance to families in the coming months.

"We try to give each family an average of two weeks’ worth of food," Curtis said. "We give them as much as we can. We can’t guarantee we can give them the same amount each month."

"We have a lot less dry cereal, breakfast cereal, pancake mix, syrups, boxed macaroni and cheese — the kinds of foods kids like," Curtis said.

"We have plenty of soup and beans. We need canned potatoes, tuna fish, tomato and other kinds of sauces. You name it, we need it."

The food cupboard is also in need of more volunteers.

Boy Scout Troop 60 assists the small group of church volunteers in packing boxes of food for local families. The packing is done in the church basement by all the volunteers, but because of the weight of the cans, once packed into large cardboard boxes, the Boy Scouts have been asked to take on the strenuous task of lifting them up the stairs, through the church kitchen and into the Social Hall where families pick up the food each month.

"We rely solely on Troop 60," Curtis said. "Some of the other church members help us, but we’re looking for some of the younger, stronger, can-carry-heavy-things kinds of volunteers."

Curtis’ goal is to compile a list of able-bodied volunteers who won’t mind getting a call the night before the food distribution takes place at the church and helping out with packing and carrying the food.

"What I really need are people I can call at the last minute on a Friday night and say, ‘Are you busy? I need help now,’ " Curtis said. "I don’t know if I can get that. I don’t know if that’s possible."

Anyone interested in donating nonperishable goods for next month’s food drive or volunteering to pack food can reach Curtis through the church office at (732) 521-1711.

Curtis also needs perishable goods, such as hot dogs, which, she said, can be stored in a freezer at the church. She asks residents, however, to check expiration dates on any of the foods they may wish to donate to the cupboard.

"People give us food that is leaking because it’s so old," Curtis said. "Some of the donations are so old, you can see little critters walking around the lids of the cans. We’ve also received food that is partly eaten. Before contributing food, check the expiration date on the item because we can’t distribute expired food."