MANALAPAN — The members of Boy Scout Troop 180 at the Old Tennent Presbyterian Church have been working hard to serve the community by undertaking a project called “Planting a Row for the Hungry.”
Assistant Scoutmaster Jeff Winter, who is supervising the Scouts for this project, donated a portion of his property in Manalapan to be farmed. The items harvested throughout the season will help the hungry by being donated to the Samaritan Center in Manalapan and to Open Door in Freehold.
Troop 180 members are Mark Berlinger, Andrew Blitzer, Joshua Blitzer, Mitchell Bogolub, Shane Delorme, Harris Forkowitz, Jason Forkowitz, Mitchell Ganz, Perry Ganz, Matthew Keenan, Chris Korecky, Alex Krall, Austin Maltez, Andrew Ostovich, Nick Peles, John Riccardi, Raymond Riccardi, Daniel Sanchez, Ethan Winter, Mike Witkowski and Thomas Zak, all of Manalapan.
And, Christopher Barcheski of Englishtown; Corin Gilbert, Tim Gilbert and Gregory Lorzing, all of Marlboro; Dan Heitner and Matt Spadaro, both of Morganville; and Richard Poulillo, who lives in Howell.
Scoutmaster William Sauer explained that Old Tennent Church is the chartered organization of Troop 180, comparing the arrangement to a franchise in which the church agrees to have the troop as well as Cub Scout Pack 180 at the church.
The Samaritan Center is a joint mission outreach of Old Tennent Presbyterian Church and St. Thomas More Church, Manalapan.
Linda Sauer is the troop’s charter organizational representative, acting as liaison between the troop and the church ruling organization. She is also the unit commissioner, acting as liaison between the troop and the Battleground District of the Boy Scouts.
According to Winter, the idea to plant a row of food for
the hungry was previously introduced
by one of the Scouts in the troop. Although it was too late in the growing season to act at that time, the boys decided to visit the idea again in the future. This past January during a junior leader planning meeting, Winter reminded the boys about the project and suggested that if they wanted to act on it, they needed to do so quickly.
“The boys discussed the issue and decided this would be a good thing to do this year considering the state of the economy and the need for food based on information we received from the local food pantry about how demand was up,” Winter explained. “I offered a small piece of my lawn for the project, set up some raised beds and I make sure the plants have water. The boys have done and continue to do all the work.
“Seeds for plants that prefer warm weather were planted in flats indoors in March for later transplanting into the garden, while cold weather seedlings and seeds were planted directly into the garden later in March. The boys tend the gardens on an as-needed basis to plant new seeds, transplant plants that were started earlier, and weed and harvest what they have grown,” he said.
A variety of crops have been harvested and delivered to the Samaritan Center in Manalapan — most recently 50 pounds of potatoes and two shopping bags of beets. The Scouts have also donated bok choy, Swiss chard, radishes and snap peas. Goodies to come include peppers, tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers and some herbs.
“I think the boys have learned that having food on the table is not always a given and for just a little seed money and some effort, they can help out others in need,” said Winter.
William Sauer said, “Part of a Scout’s oath is to help other people at all times. Our troop has supported the community through Eagle Scout projects, Scouting for Food and other endeavors. I would say we have almost 200 service hours put in this year. It was very interesting that when the Boy Scouts were founded almost 100 years ago, one of the service projects they were involved in was growing crops for the war movement during World War I. I guess we are continuing a true Scouting tradition.”