Synagogue supports local food bank

On Sept. 21 upon pulling into the parking lot of Temple Beth Ahm, Aberdeen, and prior to entering the synagogue for Kol Nidre services, congregants stopped their cars, popped open their trunks and brought out grocery bags filled with food and household items to be donated to the community food bank at the Matawan United Methodist Church.

When preparing for this yearly Corners of the Fields project, members of the temple's social action committee obtained 500 grocery bags, which had been donated by ShopRite of Aberdeen, and then stapled a list of most-needed items to each grocery bag and placed the bags on the seats in the sanctuary, to be taken home by congregants and returned on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Robert Muller, of John J. Muller and Sons Plumbing, an active member of the Matawan United Methodist Church, donated his time and truck along with his muscles to help the synagogue collect all of the filled grocery bags and pile them into the truck.

Muller then drove the truck from the temple to the church where volunteers and Pastor Sue Flicker awaited the delivery to help unpack the truck and restock the food pantry. Since some of the temple's congregants had forgotten or were unable to bring their grocery items on Sept. 21, they brought them into the synagogue on Sept. 23 and Muller came back on Sept. 24 to pick up the rest of the grocery bags. In all, 305 grocery bags were collected.

Temple Beth Ahm has run this Corners of the Fields project for the past several years, collecting more than 1,500 bags of groceries for those who need assistance.