Public assistance officer sorry to see department close It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to a position I have held with Freehold Township for 18 years. Due to the state aid cut to municipalities, through Gov. Jon Corzine, Freehold Township has found it necessary to eliminate the Public Assistance Office and send its welfare (general assistance program) to Monmouth County. This means the following programs and services will be eliminated: closing of the Freehold Township Food Pantry HOPE (Helping Other People Eat), Put a Pack on Every Back (providing school supplies and backpacks to the community's poor), holiday food baskets, toys and clothing for the families adopted every year, social services, referrals, or assisting residents/seniors with applying for needed benefits. I want to thank the residents and the businesses of Freehold Township who over the years have made a substantial contribution to those less fortunate within our community and in assisting me to do what I love. To all the wonderful people from other municipalities, organizations, charities etc., with whom I have networked and collaborated over the years, I will miss you. To all my clients and the people I have assisted over the years, I only hope that in some small way I made difference. All of you have touched my heart and made me a better person. To my Red Hat wonderful ladies, Thank you for allowing me to play with you. To My Step It Up Group, stay happy and healthy and keep on walking. To the state of New Jersey, Gov. Corzine, Senate and Assembly, you need to resolve the state's fiscal problems without hurting the little people. There is no longer a blue-collar middle class in New Jersey, there is the poor, the working poor and the rich. To everyone, when services are cut within the state and municipalities and you want to complain, please take a moment and think about others who are without a job, who have no food on the table, who are losing their homes, living without heat, etc., or those who are working maybe two or three jobs and are still unable to make ends meet. And in that moment, pray! RoseAnn Polo Freehold Township