Post by admin on Jul 12, 2008 12:04:12 GMT -5
www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080712/LIFE/807120339/1006
A lifeline for the hungry exists in a small shop in a little strip mall on Throckmorton Street in the borough of Freehold.
Behind the small entry room with its seats and counter is a compact walled area where canned and boxed groceries, baby formula, toothpaste and more are stacked on floor-to-ceiling shelves. In the back of the shop is a small area with a refrigerator for perishables and a table where volunteers sort through bags of donated groceries.
On a recent sunny weekday, Joanna Parks of Freehold is doing just that. For the lifelong borough resident, volunteering at the nonprofit Freehold Area Open Door Inc. — and in her community — is simply second nature.
The retired nurse with a round face, wavy gray hair, metal-frame glasses and a sweet smile has been lending a hand at the food program for 16 years. Last year, Parks, 70, was Open Door's Volunteer of the Year.
"That was a long overdue honor," says Jeanne Yaecker, Open Door director. "She's a very, very hard worker. Anything you ask her to do, she does. She works at the front counter directly with clients. Each morning we get bread and produce donated by grocery stores. She'll help package that."
Open Door gives free groceries once a month and bread and produce daily to those in need. The agency also serves lunch three times a week next door at St. Peter's Episcopal Church. People automatically qualify if they receive government social-service assistance. Others qualify by meeting federal income eligibility guidelines, Yaecker says.
"We're seeing more new faces. We're seeing old clients who stopped coming because they didn't need us, and now they need us again. In May, we gave food to 363 households, close to 1,000 people," she says. "That's 100 households more than that time last year."
In 2007, food was given to 10,000 people, some of them repeat visitors, equaling about 80 tons of food, Yaecker says.
"There are people who come in and are quite uneasy about accepting help. Joanna helps them. She puts her heart and soul into what she does," says Eric Barbesh of Manalapan, volunteer president of Open Door's board of trustees.
"I talk to them," Parks says. "I had a man come in one time. He was very hostile when he came in. I felt he was very bitter because he wasn't able to provide for his family. He felt bad he had to come to Open Door.
"I talked to him in a very nice way. I said that we help everybody, and people get into a rut now and then. When he came back, he apologized. I had forgotten all about it.
"I think a lot of people are embarrassed to come here. But we never know what's going to happen to us, and we may have to come here. We treat everyone the same," she adds.
"Joanna's willing to give everyone a chance," Yaecker says.
"She goes far and above the duties and responsibilities of most volunteers in trying to help people," Barbesh adds.
"I have a neighbor who's sick. She used to be able to come in and get her food package," Parks says. "I know she needs the food. I used to be able to pack up her food and take it to her. But I had a back operation in September. I don't do a lot of lifting. So what I'll do is call her son.
"He works. So I pack it so when he comes in when he's able, during his lunch hour or whenever — he doesn't drive and has to get someone to bring him — I'll give it to him for her."
"Joanna's a very caring individual," Yaecker says. "She's very warm, very friendly. And she's funny."
Parks brings another benefit to the program, which serves Freehold, Freehold Township, Marlboro, Colts Neck and Millstone Township, Yaecker says.
"Joanna lives in the community, works in the community. She seems to know everyone in town. That's pretty helpful if we have questions. We just ask Joanna," she says.
"I'm a Freehold person!" Parks says, laughing. "I love it. It's a pretty good town. I know a lot of people. I attend the council meetings."
She began volunteering at Open Door while working at Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital, where she worked for 38 years before retiring in 1998 when the hospital closed.
"I just kept coming back. Slowly, I increased my hours. Sometimes now, I come three days a week, sometimes two days. I don't do anything on Fridays but come here. If someone doesn't come in, and Jeanne needs help, she'll call me. Most of the time, I can come in," Parks says.
Breaking her right elbow in a fall in April didn't stop her.
"I packed the bread with one hand. I'm just used to coming here," says Parks, who likes to be busy.
She has been a borough crossing guard for six years. At Bethel A.M.E. Church in the borough, she sings in the choir and is president of the Ida F. Simpson Missionary Society, whose members visit the sick, hold services at nursing homes, and aid the community.
"Bethel is my family's church. I was baptized there. I've been there all my life," says Parks, also part of a Sunday volunteer program where a nurse is on duty in case someone at church takes ill.
"This is the way I was raised," Parks says. "We help out people. My mother, my grandmother, they always did things in the community."
Parks is one of about 200 volunteers helping with various Open Door programs, and more are needed, as are donations, Yaecker says. Donations comprise most of the annual budget of $120,000, with a small amount from grants, she says. That covers rent, two part-time salaries, upkeep, a small budget for food purchases, and an emergency fund to prevent eviction or utility shut-offs. About $200,000 to $250,000 worth of food is donated annually.
Open Door also runs an after-school program for children in third through fifth grades and provides scholarships for some graduates from that program who are going to college or vocational school. Open Door was created in 1970 by the Freehold Clergy Association, and the food pantry opened in 1987, Yaecker says.
Bobbi Seidel: (732) 643-4043 or bobbi@app.com
A lifeline for the hungry exists in a small shop in a little strip mall on Throckmorton Street in the borough of Freehold.
Behind the small entry room with its seats and counter is a compact walled area where canned and boxed groceries, baby formula, toothpaste and more are stacked on floor-to-ceiling shelves. In the back of the shop is a small area with a refrigerator for perishables and a table where volunteers sort through bags of donated groceries.
On a recent sunny weekday, Joanna Parks of Freehold is doing just that. For the lifelong borough resident, volunteering at the nonprofit Freehold Area Open Door Inc. — and in her community — is simply second nature.
The retired nurse with a round face, wavy gray hair, metal-frame glasses and a sweet smile has been lending a hand at the food program for 16 years. Last year, Parks, 70, was Open Door's Volunteer of the Year.
"That was a long overdue honor," says Jeanne Yaecker, Open Door director. "She's a very, very hard worker. Anything you ask her to do, she does. She works at the front counter directly with clients. Each morning we get bread and produce donated by grocery stores. She'll help package that."
Open Door gives free groceries once a month and bread and produce daily to those in need. The agency also serves lunch three times a week next door at St. Peter's Episcopal Church. People automatically qualify if they receive government social-service assistance. Others qualify by meeting federal income eligibility guidelines, Yaecker says.
"We're seeing more new faces. We're seeing old clients who stopped coming because they didn't need us, and now they need us again. In May, we gave food to 363 households, close to 1,000 people," she says. "That's 100 households more than that time last year."
In 2007, food was given to 10,000 people, some of them repeat visitors, equaling about 80 tons of food, Yaecker says.
"There are people who come in and are quite uneasy about accepting help. Joanna helps them. She puts her heart and soul into what she does," says Eric Barbesh of Manalapan, volunteer president of Open Door's board of trustees.
"I talk to them," Parks says. "I had a man come in one time. He was very hostile when he came in. I felt he was very bitter because he wasn't able to provide for his family. He felt bad he had to come to Open Door.
"I talked to him in a very nice way. I said that we help everybody, and people get into a rut now and then. When he came back, he apologized. I had forgotten all about it.
"I think a lot of people are embarrassed to come here. But we never know what's going to happen to us, and we may have to come here. We treat everyone the same," she adds.
"Joanna's willing to give everyone a chance," Yaecker says.
"She goes far and above the duties and responsibilities of most volunteers in trying to help people," Barbesh adds.
"I have a neighbor who's sick. She used to be able to come in and get her food package," Parks says. "I know she needs the food. I used to be able to pack up her food and take it to her. But I had a back operation in September. I don't do a lot of lifting. So what I'll do is call her son.
"He works. So I pack it so when he comes in when he's able, during his lunch hour or whenever — he doesn't drive and has to get someone to bring him — I'll give it to him for her."
"Joanna's a very caring individual," Yaecker says. "She's very warm, very friendly. And she's funny."
Parks brings another benefit to the program, which serves Freehold, Freehold Township, Marlboro, Colts Neck and Millstone Township, Yaecker says.
"Joanna lives in the community, works in the community. She seems to know everyone in town. That's pretty helpful if we have questions. We just ask Joanna," she says.
"I'm a Freehold person!" Parks says, laughing. "I love it. It's a pretty good town. I know a lot of people. I attend the council meetings."
She began volunteering at Open Door while working at Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital, where she worked for 38 years before retiring in 1998 when the hospital closed.
"I just kept coming back. Slowly, I increased my hours. Sometimes now, I come three days a week, sometimes two days. I don't do anything on Fridays but come here. If someone doesn't come in, and Jeanne needs help, she'll call me. Most of the time, I can come in," Parks says.
Breaking her right elbow in a fall in April didn't stop her.
"I packed the bread with one hand. I'm just used to coming here," says Parks, who likes to be busy.
She has been a borough crossing guard for six years. At Bethel A.M.E. Church in the borough, she sings in the choir and is president of the Ida F. Simpson Missionary Society, whose members visit the sick, hold services at nursing homes, and aid the community.
"Bethel is my family's church. I was baptized there. I've been there all my life," says Parks, also part of a Sunday volunteer program where a nurse is on duty in case someone at church takes ill.
"This is the way I was raised," Parks says. "We help out people. My mother, my grandmother, they always did things in the community."
Parks is one of about 200 volunteers helping with various Open Door programs, and more are needed, as are donations, Yaecker says. Donations comprise most of the annual budget of $120,000, with a small amount from grants, she says. That covers rent, two part-time salaries, upkeep, a small budget for food purchases, and an emergency fund to prevent eviction or utility shut-offs. About $200,000 to $250,000 worth of food is donated annually.
Open Door also runs an after-school program for children in third through fifth grades and provides scholarships for some graduates from that program who are going to college or vocational school. Open Door was created in 1970 by the Freehold Clergy Association, and the food pantry opened in 1987, Yaecker says.
Bobbi Seidel: (732) 643-4043 or bobbi@app.com