NJ HEROS, Pride through Service and Community

[fiberisgoodforyou]

[size=1
]www.njinaugural2010.com/njheroes.html[/size]

"As part of the 2010 Christie-Guadagno Inauguration theme, ;Rebuilding New Jersey Together: Pride through Service and Community,” we're honoring New Jersey's own heroes - the men and women whose service to their communities is making a real difference.

Tell us who your New Jersey hero is, and how he or she is making a difference right here at home. Nominate the man or woman who has dedicated his or her time and efforts to making New Jersey a better place to live. We'll highlight those New Jerseyans who are serving our state on the inaugural website and select five of your nominees to attend the Inaugural celebration on January 19th."

[fiberisgoodforyou]

Jan 5, 2010 16:45:04 GMT -5 fiberisgoodforyou said:

[size=1
]www.njinaugural2010.com/njheroes.html

[/size]

"As part of the 2010 Christie-Guadagno Inauguration theme, ;Rebuilding New Jersey Together: Pride through Service and Community,” we're honoring New Jersey's own heroes - the men and women whose service to their communities is making a real difference.

Tell us who your New Jersey hero is, and how he or she is making a difference right here at home. Nominate the man or woman who has dedicated his or her time and efforts to making New Jersey a better place to live. We'll highlight those New Jerseyans who are serving our state on the inaugural website and select five of your nominees to attend the Inaugural celebration on January 19th."[/quote]

Freehold man's pantry serves 39,000 meals a year

FREEHOLD — Jim Benedict, the man behind St. Peters Episcopal Church soup kitchen, will stand with Gov.-elect Christopher Christie on Tuesday at his inauguration.

Benedict, 65, a child of a coal miner and a retired industrial carpenter, is one of five people to be honored by the future governor as "everyday heroes." He was chosen by Mary Pat Christie, the future first lady of New Jersey, from 250 nominations received by the Christie transition team through its Web site.

"I was shocked. I never thought I would be asked to do something like this," Benedict said. "I mean, I'm a normal person, we're not high class or anything like that."

Benedict will be joined by International Youth Organization founder Carolyn B. T. Wallace of Newark; Wish Upon a Hero Web site founder Dave Girgenti of Cherry Hill; mental health charity Image and Attitude founder Tammy Evans-Colquitt of Pennsauken; and food donation charity Grow-A—Row founder Chip Paillex of Pittstown.

"The interest in the New Jersey Heroes program was greater than we ever expected and we were overwhelmed by the excitement with which people offered up their friends, relatives and neighbors for this simple honor," New Jersey Inaugural 2010 Committee Chairman Todd Christie said in a prepared statement. "The stories shared with us over the past weeks have been inspiring and humbling and are truly a reminder that anyone can do amazing things for others and their communities."

The soup kitchen founder is a pious man. On Saturday, a Bible sat on his kitchen table in his township home. On the back of his sport-utility vehicle is a quote from the Book of Psalms: "Be still and know that I am God." At the edge of his driveway is a lawn sign: "Jesus is the reason for the season."

He first started a soup kitchen in Rockhill, S.C., where he and his wife Patricia had a second home. But they moved back to New Jersey to take care of sick family members several years ago. The couple volunteered at hospitals and food pantries when they came back.

As he became more aware of the need of the homeless and working poor, he decided to start a soup kitchen here. He now takes care of shut-ins, and the tent cities in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

"God called me to do this; God has called me to stop working," Benedict said. "I'll keep doing it until he calls me to do something else or until he calls me home."

St. Peter's allowed him to start his kitchen on a six-month trial in 2003. It is now seven years later and he serves more than 39,000 meals on average every year, he said.

"For this to happen to him (Benedict) is really awesome," Patricia Benedict said. "He's the whole thing. . . . He's the glue that hold everything together."
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