GIVING BACK
Faith Lutheran Church, located in the neighboring town of New Providence, provided more than 900 sandwiches along with groceries, fruits, granola bars and baked goods to the St. John’s Roman Catholic Soup Kitchen in the city of Newark, NJ on July 16, as part of its ministry of feeding the growing number of hungry people. On a weekly basis, Faith Lutheran collects sandwiches and food items from the community and donates them to the St. John’s Soup Kitchen. The Soup Kitchen serves food Tuesday through Saturday every week to approximately 240 people daily. Members of BH Unfiltered made 100 sandwiches to contribute to this week’s collection and seized the opportunity to travel to Newark to serve the meals and gain first hand understanding of those in need, with Newark having a 28 percent poverty rate.
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Alongside the Soup Kitchen workers, the BH Unfiltered members formed an assembly line to organize box lunches that consisted of turkey with gravy, rice, peas, salad and utensils. Additionally, we put together to-go bags consisting of sandwiches, granola bars, chips and fruits. Separately, we distributed masks as well as hygiene items, and laid out used clothes, which were immediately taken. Those being served seemed genuinely appreciative. This hands-on experience was educational, as the BH Unfiltered members witnessed a different reality for many people living only 30 minutes from our town.
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We gained insight from the workers at the Soup Kitchen, including that there is a wide range of people who are served. We observed that the majority of the people serviced are Black and Brown. While some are homeless, others suffer from mental illnesses, and others have recently lost their job and have to cut their budget for food. This is even more pronounced during the coronavirus pandemic where millions more of Americans have become unemployed, with Black and Brown communities being hit the hardest. Black and Brown people are heavily represented in service jobs that have been suspended or eliminated during the corona shutdown. Additionally, the lives of Black and Brown families have been disproportionately disrupted, with relatively high occurrences of illnesses and deaths from the coronavirus due to a large representation in certain high exposure jobs.
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We were reminded by the security guard never to judge anyone we serve. We were counselled to take advantage of our educational opportunities so that someday we would be in a position to help fix the root of poverty, which is often the systemic lower opportunities and services received by Black and Brown people. For example, Census data show that 15 percent of Newark residents 25 years of age and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher as compared to 69 percent of Berkeley Heights residents. Correspondingly, the median household income for Newark residents is $35,181, in stark contrast to $171,417 for Berkeley Heights residents. Additionally, 21 percent of Newark residents 65 years and younger do not have health insurance as compared to two percent of Berkeley Heights residents.
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In the past, some of our BH Unfiltered members had performed community service in urban areas, then we came home to our towns feeling good about ourselves having helped the less fortunate. This recent experience, approached with a heightened consciousness, left us recognizing our privileges and feeling more of a sense of responsibility for ensuring equal opportunities for all people. We have grown to believe that the best long-term strategy for helping the less fortunate is to provide them the tools to help themselves. In other words, “Give a man fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” We left the Soup Kitchen feeling even more committed to finding our individual ways to make a lasting difference.
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We commend Faith Lutheran Church for its years of participating in this important service ministry with the Soup Kitchen. Faith Lutheran will continue to collect sandwiches throughout the summer and welcomes donations of any amount per its sign up guide, to be dropped off at 524 South Street, New Providence, NJ 07974 before 9 am on Thursday. St. John’s Soup Kitchen also welcomes volunteers to serve every Tuesday through Saturday anytime from 8 am to 1 pm. Additionally, Faith Lutheran is currently collecting backpacks filled with school supplies to distribute to needy children in Newark and Plainfield.
