By David Karas | Correspondent
“What can we do?”
The question is a familiar one in the wake of a disaster or tragedy, as it was for many after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico and left the American citizens there without electricity, food and other necessary supplies.
That very question was posed to Arnold Valentin, who works for Diocese of Trenton’s Catholic Charities as acting service area director for community services. The organization’s executive director, Marlene Lao-Collins, approached Valentin for insights into how the faith-based service bastion could lend a hand for those suffering in the wake of Maria’s fury, much like she had after Hurricane Harvey left a trail of devastation in Texas.
“Those calls for assistance came again,” Valentin said. “We tapped our resources once again.”
When tragedy struck Texas last summer, Valentin partnered with folks like Anthony Pluchino, who is a member of St. Thomas More Parish, Manalapan, and its St. Vincent de Paul conference, as well as the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management. Together, they mounted a campaign to collect and deliver food, water, hygiene kits and other necessities to parish communities in Texas, yielding 44,000 pounds of goods.
But the calls for help from Puerto Rico were far more difficult to answer, given the challenges associated with shipping the much-needed goods to the island territory.
Not willing to give up, Valentin and the coalition of dedicated faithful devised a plan to collect similar goods and distribute them to the more than 1,000 Puerto Rican evacuees who are already in New Jersey, with plans to establish a welcome center to help provide support.
“It is our duty, our passion and our mission to help them,” Valentin said.
Over the past few months, efforts have been underway to collect necessary goods through collection points throughout the Diocese of Trenton, including El Centro and the Central Administrative Services locations in Trenton; Monmouth Counseling, Red Bank; Delaware House, Westampton, and Providence House, Whiting. The result has been the collection, thus far, of some 12 pallets of supplies.
Initially, organizers were also working to collect financial donations to help offset the $5,000 cost of shipping the supplies to Puerto Rico by container ship, but that plan had to be abandoned after government-imposed tariffs more than doubled the cost of shipping. In response, organizers will continue to solicit contributions of goods, and will convert financial donations into gift cards for evacuees.
James Oliver is one of Valentin’s colleagues at Catholic Charities, serving as business manager for children and family services, and he has been assisting Valentin in these efforts. He recalled seeing the devastation on the news and hearing of the great need for simple items many may take for granted.
“It was a daunting situation,” he said, “but an honor to be able to help in some small way, the people in need.”
Among the items collected are hygiene supplies – bath soap, combs, hand towels, toothbrushes, adhesive bandages, nail clippers and other basics – along with cleaning supplies, food, water and baby supplies.
The effort has also been supported by financial contributions, Valentin said, including donations from St. Clement Parish and the Knights of Columbus chapter there, Freehold Township High School, and the St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish, Hamilton, St. Vincent de Paul conference – of which Oliver is a member.
“The conference was meeting … I mentioned to the members the project Catholic Charities was working on for Puerto Rico,” he said. “The membership was excited at the prospect of contributing to a local effort as well.”
It is both faith, and experience, that have contributed to the drive to help those affected by the disaster in Puerto Rico, Valentin said.
“Catholic Charities and the Diocese of Trenton are inspired by our Catholic faith,” he said, adding, “I can see families here in our community suffering with homeless and poverty, and how hard we work to improve their lives.”