MANCHESTER – As the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, the residents of the township have a lot to be thankful for because somebody cares about them.
Somebody Cares Inc. offers a variety of services for people in need. They will be expanding their offerings thanks to a sizable donation from Jersey Central Power and Light.
A $10,000 grant from the FirstEnergy Foundation, the charitable arm of JCP&L’s parent company, will help support their local efforts to combat food insecurity.
Patricia Donahue, CEO of Somebody Cares, said the grant award will be used toward the Joel E. Perlmutter Memorial Food Pantry for the new refrigeration that is going in.
“It came at incredibly perfect timing as most donations do,” she said. “That set us up for brand new refrigeration. The Food Pantry is a garage conversion. We converted a six car garage.”
She added, “it will be done as market style client choice where they will shop the aisles where they know what they want and what they need. It is much more dignified and respectful than just handing someone a bag.”
This grant was part of the FirstEnergy Foundation’s largest-ever hunger relief initiative, announced in September, which provided a total of $600,000 in grants to 21 New Jersey food banks and pantries. The grants are intended to provide approximately two million meals to families in JCP&L’s service area.
Somebody CARES volunteers and local officials came together to accept the oversized check, celebrating the enhancement of local services.
Mayor Joseph Hankins and Councilwoman Sandy Drake attended the event. Judy Noonan, liaison to the township’s senior services office, was present for the presentation and explained “Somebody CARES helps a lot of people – not just seniors.” Noonan will be helping out with the group’s food distribution.
“It has been an incredibly busy year. We have expanded our borders. We are all of Manchester now. We have a tremendous amount of new programs here in the building,” Donohue said.
“We have attorneys here every week. We have financial advisors. We have Medicaid/Medicaid specialists and our own advocates. We have a lending library for medical equipment and our free coffee and snacks which was added,” she noted.
Donahue said, “Mental Health New Jersey is on site. They see people for one-on-one counseling and we are also doing a lot of programming here in the building. A lot of seminars and such and we are still doing meal distribution on Thursdays. The day before Thanksgiving we have 2,000 meals going out to the community. Those meals are supplied by the Ocean County Vocational School.”
The pickup time for that distribution will be 3 to 6 p.m. on November 26 at 48 Schoolhouse Road. Call 732-350-1400 for more details.
“It has been an exciting time for us as an organization. The changes made here and the work of our Board of Directors has been spectacular and exactly what the community needs especially now with the economy being so bad. We also have SNAP program coordinators and we also have the Ocean County Veterans Services here once a week,” she added.
She gave an example of that noting the widow of a veteran “didn’t think he was career Navy and didn’t think there was any benefit to meeting with a representative but he convinced her to sit down with him and she qualified for the widow’s pension and she is now comfortable.”
The organization has also been promoting the Senior Success Program (SSP), designed to empower seniors in Ocean County with the support they need to navigate and access essential services.
This program includes helping seniors understand their benefits, getting connected to community resources, and managing basic needs so they can live healthier, more fulfilled lives.
That program involves one-on-one support to identify basic needs, assistance in accessing care and community services and personalized referrals to programs that make a difference.
SSP is hosting a WRAP seminar on handling stress during the holidays and a cookie and ornament party from noon to 2 p.m. on December 11 at Somebody Cares at 48 Schoolhouse Road.
The ornaments are being made and donated by Delta Phi Epsilon, Alpha Theta Chapter of Stockton University and cookies are being donated by SSP. To RSVP call Suzanne Donley-Pagano at 732-703-7706 as spots are limited.
To learn more about the program email SSP@mhanj.org or call 732-244-0940.
