From coast to coast and beyond, the outpouring of love, prayers and offerings of help for those devastated by loss and hardship as a result of Hurricane Sandy continue to pour into the Diocese of Trenton.
Locally, those parishes that are still operational have developed a variety of plans to assist parish families and the extended community in ways best suited to their situation, including providing critical services and supplies to feed and clothe individuals and families, to keep them warm and safe in areas that were without power for days.
In addition to collecting and distributing much needed supplies, the parish family of St. Benedict, Holmdel, is working in collaboration with another community outreach facility and the nearby Beers Street Elementary School where non-perishable foods are being collected and hot meals are prepared and served.
Sister of St. Joseph Jeanne Morgan, pastoral associate in St. Peter School, Point Pleasant Beach, indicated that the cafeteria in St. Peter School has shifted from a site for clothing donations, which exceeded expectations, to a place for donations of personal hygiene items and money for distribution.
Sister Jeanne noted that St. Peter is also working in collaboration with nearby St. Mary’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church where donations of food are being collected.
Melissa Whelan Wisk, principal of Mother Teresa Regional School, Atlantic Highlands, and coordinator of religious education in St. Agnes and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parishes, pointed to the reality of some hurricane victims being in “clean-up mode,” indicating the need for supplies that would allow them to clean in environments that may carry health hazards, as well as supplies and garments for living with loss of heat and power. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish will be accepting donations and the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Conference is accepting financial donations for those in need.
To answer a pressing need, several Monmouth and Ocean County parishes, along with the diocesan department of lay formation, joined together to provide food for 150 hurricane evacuees who are being sheltered in the emergency room of Community Medical Center, Toms River.
The tremendous response included coordinated efforts between St. Benedict Parish and the Hazlet-based RAINE (Reaching All In Need Everyday) Foundation, which provided hot meals. The following evening, with the help of both parish and community volunteers, Assumption Parish, New Egypt, prepared a total of 700 bagged lunches that included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a piece of fruit and a snack, 200 of which were given to Community Medical Center and 500 which were donated to the evacuees housed in Central Regional High School, Toms River.
Other parishes included in the effort to provide food are St. Joseph, Toms River, which donated pizza, while the parish youth group was delivering sandwiches, and St. Luke Parish, Toms River, which is also scheduled to prepare food. JoLynn Krempecki, associate director of the diocesan department of lay formation, said that commissioned lay ecclesial ministers and candidates enrolled in the diocesan Institute for Lay Ecclesial Formation will also be providing a variety of food items, including water, granola bars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, for the evacuees.
The community of St. Mary of the Pines, Manahawkin, will open its doors to the American Red Cross who will be serving the displaced in the parish center through the end of this year. In addition, the parish will also provide worship space for parishioners of St. Francis Parish, Long Beach Island, which remains closed for repairs.
In Jackson, Father Kevin Keelan, pastor, St. Aloysius Parish, has initiated a program, “The Shore Must Go On!” to offer some relief to those who will have to begin repairing or rebuilding their homes. Local parishes are encouraged to place a well-marked box in churches to collect gift cards from Home Depot, Lowes, Sears or Ace Hardware. Father Keelen will coordinate with local pastors to distribute the cards to parishes most devastated by the Super-Storm Sandy.
Reflecting on the extensive generosity and good will of so many, Sister Joanne Dress, diocesan executive director of Catholic Social Services, expressed amazement at the number of people “who graciously offered to provide some type of outreach to the hurricane victims in our diocese,” sharing that offers of help have come from schools, companies, organizations and individuals in Massachusetts, Arizona, California, Wisconsin and Chicago, and from as far away as Paris.