Bradley Food Pantry Quarterly Newsletter, December 2024
Executive Director’s Update
It’s a most wonderful time of the year!
The Bradley Food Pantry is back, and we are busier than ever at our new home at 101 3rd Avenue in Neptune City! Whether working in donated church space, under a tent next to the bowling alley, or in our current home, we depend on your support to provide a lifeline to neighbors in need.
In November, we served over 550 families a week, an increase of 75% in less than two years, and three times the number we saw in 2019.
We provided a turkey and food products sufficient for a holiday feast to 600 families at Thanksgiving, and we’ll do it again at Christmas. Your critical financial support will allow us to continue to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, to offer a variety of protein options, and to provide all patrons with healthy, nutritional choices. We spend $10,000 a month to purchase food staples to supplement donations from Fulfill, retail stores, and community donors.
Please consider making a tax-deductible year-end gift to help us meet this growing need. You can donate easily online at www.bradleyfoodpantry.org/donate or mail a check to PO Box 308, Bradley Beach NJ 07720.
On behalf of our patrons and our 250+ volunteers, we thank you for partnering with us to help those in need!
Sincerely,
Linda Curtiss
Executive Director
Community Update
Since moving to our new home on 3rd Avenue in Neptune City, we have seen many familiar faces come through our doors. Most are returning patrons, but we are also enrolling new families every day.
Thankfully, our volunteers have stepped up to meet the demand. Every day, up to 20 volunteers take part in the many tasks that keep our doors open, from picking up food at stores to stocking the Pantry shelves, welcoming patrons to the facility, assisting the patrons as they shop, and helping them to their cars when needed.
We are especially grateful to the food establishments who donate regularly – Stop and Shop, ShopRite, Target, Trader Joe’s, Wawa, Sabor do Brazil and Emporio Restaurante, Whole Foods. Our patrons love the variety of food available from these generous donations.
We think it is important to have fresh produce every day, and have a volunteer who makes the produce run to Restaurant Depot twice a week so we can keep this commitment. Likewise, we frequently purchase meat from Carl Streit Meat Purveyors in order to have a choice of protein items for our families.
Your donations allow us to do all of this, and we thank you and hope you’ll think of the Pantry this giving season by making a donation.
Events Update
We have had an inspiring fall!
This year’s Take a Bite Out of Hunger on October 10 included 21 participating restaurants and businesses in Neptune City, Bradley Beach, Avon by the Sea, Neptune, Belmar, and Asbury Park. Through their very generous donations, the Pantry raised almost $7,000! We appreciate the support of our local businesses and restaurants. Thank you to Ed and Nancy Mulligan for coordinating the event, to all of the volunteers who were a part of creating it, and to all of our neighbors who dined in or grabbed take out to support the Bradley Food Pantry!
Noshing for a Cause at Pagano’s UVA on October 17 sold out. Dozens of people enjoyed this special occasion to support the Pantry while connecting with friends, meeting new ones, and enjoying delicious food! We raised almost $4000! Thank you to the Pagano family for donating the food and coordinating with us to make the evening a great success, to all of you who attended, and to board members Judy Staggard and Lynne Pilger, who coordinated this event!
At this year’s annual Thanksgiving Distribution, we had over 700 families pick up a turkey and all the trimmings. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to make this day a success, including especially the 80 volunteers who braved the cold and wet on distribution day!!
We are actively registering families for the Christmas Distribution on December 20, 10am to 6pm. This year, we will provide a choice of turkey or ham, plus all the food fit for a feast, from our location at 101 3rd Ave in Neptune City. We are expecting over 700 families to request assistance.
Volunteer Spotlight
Mary Kate and her mother Sally have been volunteering with the Pantry for seven years now. Mary Kate and Sally prepare the tea bags on Tuesdays by counting out tea and sugar and assembling them into baggies for our patrons.
Mary Kate loves to interact with the fellow volunteers, as well as spread smiles to the patrons who come into the Pantry. After each day of volunteering, she feels valued for her service and an important part of the community — and the Pantry values Mary Kate!
In addition to the Pantry, she gives back by volunteering at Ocean Medical Center one day a week. She actively participates in A Gift from the Heart in Point Pleasant, a gift store where young adults with disabilities can volunteer and make craft projects to sell. She attends Next Steps Adult Day program and enjoys the friends and opportunities for inclusion in the community. Mary Kate and her family organized a neighborhood food drive for the Bradley Food Pantry and will be doing another one to help out again.
All in all, Mary is grateful to help others. Meanwhile, we are grateful for Mary Kate!
What’s Next!?
Find out how you can support the Pantry below!
Other ways to support us:
Bradley Food Pantry Quarterly Newsletter, September 2024
Welcome to the Bradley Food Pantry’s first Quarterly Newsletter! Thank you for being a part of our community!
Executive Director’s Update
Our new location is UP AND RUNNING!! We opened at 101 3rd Avenue in Neptune City on Monday, August 19. On our first day, we saw 42 families walk through our doors, and we have had an average of 85 families nearly every day since. (Hours: Mon-Fri, 10am-12pm & Thurs, 6-7pm)
We welcome you all to stop by to see our new digs. It is spacious, with high ceilings, and a lot of natural light – and wonderfully large enough so that we can welcome patrons into the space to sit at tables while they await their turn to shop.
For now, we are leaving our walk-in refrigerator and freezer at Jewish Family and Children’s Services in Asbury Park, and we have recruited volunteers to bring fresh and frozen products from there to 101 3rd Ave every morning. We moved the double-door freezer and two refrigerators from our previous facility, so we have ample storage for each day’s needs.
We are still in the process of restarting all of our retail pickups (which were paused or otherwise curtailed while we were in the temporary space in the AutoParts Store) and are reminded of the generosity of so many – Stop and Shop, ShopRite, Panera Bread, The Corner Bagelry, Target, Whole Foods – and we will again receive prepared meals from Emporio Restaurante in Long Branch several times a week. We are truly blessed.
None of this could have happened without the amazingly talented and generous volunteers who found the facility, negotiated a lease, painted the walls, cleaned the bathrooms and floors, moved the shelving and food and supplies, organized the space, arranged for internet installation, coordinated the volunteers, and staffed the shifts. What a labor of love!
Interesting note: we began looking for a new space in August 2023 – so it has taken us exactly a year. During that time, we have engaged with six realtors, who searched diligently with and through their connections to find us a space that would work. In the end, it was one of our volunteers seeing an open building and contacting the agent for that building at just the right time. If the secret to real estate is location, location, location, then the secret to finding real estate is persistence, patience, and luck. We are deeply grateful to the volunteers who just kept at it until the right place came available. Thank you to each and every one of you who pitched in!
Sincerely,
Linda Curtiss
Executive Director
Community Update
During the first few months of 2024, we were serving over 100 families a day, on average. Despite the disruptions of changed hours, restricted days, closing, and then two address changes, we are already serving an average of 85 families daily in the first month at 101 3rd Avenue. Most are returning patrons, but we are also enrolling new folk who live in the neighborhood or saw us in the paper or heard about us on the radio. I suspect our numbers will continue to grow. Thankfully, our volunteers have also stuck with us through all the turmoil. Every day we welcome up to 20 volunteers to staff the shift with tasks ranging from picking up food at stores to stocking the shelves, welcoming patrons to the facility, assisting the patrons as they shop, and helping them to their cars when needed.
Events Update
We held a number of successful events this year, with more to come!
We kicked off this year’s fundraising with our first Bradley Brew Project Friendraiser in February. Hosted by the brewery, we had about 50 people join us for the fun. We gave away door prices and made new friendships. Both patrons of the brewery and Bradley Food Pantry supporters (and those who overlapped) joined in the fun!
The Bradley Food Pantry connected with neighbors at the Green Fair and Spring Market at Bradley Park in April and May. Our volunteers loved chatting with all of you and hearing about your support of the Pantry!
Our first Annual Golf Tournament, held at Hominy Hill Golf course on May 20, was a huge success! The day included golfing, raffles, a silent auction, and a luncheon. We raised over $70,000! Thank you to Ed and Nancy Mulligan for coordinating this effort, to our two title sponsors, Kushner and Congregation Agudath Achim, who each made a $10,000 donation, our players and donors, and all of the volunteers who were a part of making the day a success!
Hosted by The Headliner on May 31, our Friendraiser included door prizes and everyone enjoyed live music by the Eddie Testa Band! We made new friends and enjoyed the day with our community! Thank you to our volunteers, board members and supporters!
On June 20, we held a Mix & Mingle hosted by Pagano’s UVA. This event sold out and was wildly successful. We surpassed our fundraising goal, reaching almost $3000! Thank you to the Pagano family for donating the food and coordinating with us to make the evening a hit, to String Bean for the pro bono music, to all who attended, and to board members Judy Staggard and Lynne Pilger, who coordinated this event!
We held our first-ever Bocce Tournament on July 14, with 16 teams! Though rain delayed the championship game, we rallied on July 21 to complete the tournament. Teams raised money with peer-to-peer sponsorship, totalling over $2500 – and everyone had a blast! Thank you to all of the players and supporters and deep thanks to our dedicated volunteers, Gigi Naples and Marianne Dahab, for putting this event together! This was their first event creation, and if you’re inspired by their success, please reach out to discuss creating your own benefit event!
We also have some not-to-be-missed upcoming events:
Take a Bite Out of Hunger on October 10 – a wonderful event that supports the Pantry and also spotlights our local restaurants. Grab a neighbor and eat out or get take out that day to Take a Bite Out of Hunger.
SOLD OUT: Noshing for a Cause at Pagano’s UVA on October 17 – we have sold out this opportunity to connect with friends, meet new ones, and enjoy delish food while supporting the Pantry. Stay tuned for similar upcoming offerings!
Thanksgiving Distribution Support – this year, we are appealing to the community to support our Thanksgiving Distribution. We are planning for 700 families to pick up a turkey and all the trimmings, and we are asking our neighbors to help pay for the food and supplies needed.
Special thanks for event direction and support from board members Judy Staggard and Lynne Pilger! We couldn’t have done it without you!
Volunteer Spotlight
Leonard Wilson is a patron at the Bradley Food Pantry and a valued volunteer. When Leonard saw delivery trucks filled with boxes of food pulling into the driveway one morning, he asked, “How can I help?” He hasn’t stopped helping since.
Leonard embodies the Pantry’s mission to serve our neighbors with kindness, respect & dignity. We are so lucky to have him on our volunteer team.
What’s Next!?
Find out how you can support the Pantry below!
BBHS History Project for the Bradley Food Pantry
The Bradley Beach Historical Society is working to chronicle the 40+ year history of the Bradley Food Pantry. You can be a part of that effort by sharing any memorabilia you have about the Pantry – pamphlets, articles, photos, or anything else of historical significance – at info@bbhistory.org. Read more here.