Church reaches out with helping hand for hungry
Bethel A.M.E. volunteers make weekends better for children, seniors
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
The season of giving is not over in Freehold just because the holidays are behind us.

ERIC SUCAR staff The Bethel A.M.E. Church in Freehold has joined the roster of community organizations that are helping to feed the hungry. Here, volunteer Mona Hall places donated food in a bag being prepared for delivery. The Bethel A.M.E. Church provides a weekend's worth of meals to children in the area.

In an effort to keep the giving going, volunteers at the Bethel A.M.E. Church, Waterworks Road, are packaging and delivering meals to hungry children on a weekend basis through their weekend meal program.

Freehold, like many other towns, has resources that provide holiday meals for the hungry during the Christmas season.

But what happens to those parents who still need a little help feeding their children after the Christmas decorations have been neatly tucked away for next year? The need for food remains for many around the world, including some families in the Freehold area.

Church member Retha Onitiri, of the Clarksburg section of Millstone Township, suggested to church officials that meals be provided to the area's hungry children on weekends.

Not much convincing was needed that this was the right thing to do. Volunteers signed up right away to join a program that provides six weekend meals to a number of children. The meals are delivered every Friday evening.

Onitiri said the program began with the idea of feeding children and has now expanded to include local seniors who need weekend meals.

"We started with 10 children enrolled in our program and are now up to 20 children.We have also included two seniors in our program," Onitiri said, noting that the effort is 1 month old.

Onitiri said a group of about seven volunteers comes to the church every Thursday night to package nonperishable items that have been donated. She said additional volunteers will be needed as the number of people being fed expands.

"We pack the food in a backpack and deliver it to the family on Friday. We return to the family on Monday to pick up the backpacks, refill them and return them to the families again on the next Friday evening," she explained.

Items that are placed in the backpacks include fresh milk, canned meats and beans, soups, fruits and vegetables, macaroni and cheese, puddings snacks, whole grain bars, fruit bars, fruit juices and snacks.

The food is donated by members of the community and church congregants.

The Rev. Frederick Parrish, pastor, said Onitiri brought the idea to him and "here we are."

"The program has already expanded and we are going to go as far as we can go with this," Parrish said enthusiastically.

Along with Retha Onitiri and her husband, Dr. Tunde Onitiri, and daughter Adesola, volunteers Stacey Sunnerville, Dottie Wright, Corliss Smith and Mona Hall all began, in assembly-line fashion, the task of setting up a large plastic bag filled with food for each family on their list.When completed, each bag was placed in a colorful backpack for delivery.

Hall, who lives in Old Bridge, remembers talking about the project with Retha Onitiri.

"We wanted to do some outreach to the community and get our church involved," Hall said. "And we are getting a great deal of positive feedback."

Hall said she got involved because children are very close to her heart.

"It's sad to see that some young people are neglected," she said.

Wright, of Freehold Borough, echoed Hall's sentiments and said, "We need to reach out to somebody and help them."

Sunnerville, also of Freehold Borough, comes every Thursday evening to help pack the food because people need the food.

"The kids need this more than anyone," Sunnerville said, adding that he is rewarded for his efforts every time he delivers food to a family who needs it.

"I see the faces of those kids and that's all I need," he said. "When they see me it makes me feel like I'm a big brother. I enjoy being around them."

Sunnerville said he is glad that senior citizens are also being helped.

"Some seniors are really handicapped, you know? So we choose foods for them that are easy to open and easy to prepare. Many are microwaveable meals," he explained. "This program is a real positive thing and we've gotten some really positive feedback. We're going take off with this program and it's going to expand quickly. I'm in this for the long haul."

Anyone wishing to donate nonperishable food items or money may contact the Rev. Frederick Parrish at (732) 462-0826.