By Dorothy K. LaMantia | Correspondent

In July 1972, the Long Beach Island Community Center, Inc., known locally as “St. Francis Center,” opened its doors with one paid staff member in a red brick building housing offices, meeting rooms, a gym, and an institutional kitchen.  The following March the Senior Center opened to host 50 guests from towns throughout the island for lunch and social activities.  The pantry, operating out of a 10x10 foot area with just one locker and one closet, fed the needy. 

One might liken it to the parable of the mustard seed, in which the tiniest of seeds burgeons into the mightiest of trees. Because 40 years later, St. Francis Center, which has expanded three times, includes tennis courts and outdoor and indoor swimming pools. One hundred and twenty paid full and part-time employees and 1,200 volunteers serve 18,000 people who partake of its abundant recreational and social service programs. 

This year the center celebrates its rich, complex history, and the community it serves honors it as a true center which nourishes and unites a diverse, ever-growing population.

Parish and Community Collaborate

Its story began in 1968, when the friars of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Brant Beach, hosted a meeting of civic leaders and residents of the towns on Long Beach Island to address the growing needs of the communities on the 18-mile barrier island.  While summers teemed with vacationing beach lovers and businesses catering to the crowds, population deflated as winter approached, bringing isolation and scarcity of services to year-round residents, some of whom were still rebounding from the deadly nor’easter of 1962. Others needed government assistance – and had to travel distances simply to apply.

Together, the towns’ mayors and residents along with the friars decided that the island needed a community center where people could connect socially and enjoy activities throughout the year. James Mancini, mayor of Long Beach Township and St. Francis parishioner, aware of Southern Ocean County’s needs for easier access to government programs and expanded social services for seniors and low-income families, advocated that the center fill those aspects.

The size of the property surrounding the church and its central location on the island made it ideal for all those needs. The mandate of the Franciscans, which pastor Father Steve Kluge defined as “listening to what the community needs and reaching a wider community in service in imitation of Jesus,” expanded its mission to include not just parishioners but all people from the island and beyond.      

Funding came through donations from individuals and businesses. Through Mayor Mancini’s efforts, the center became a resource for county social services and a recipient of state, federal and municipal funds, including grants. Government monies financed 64 percent of the center’s budget.

In 1972 the center was incorporated as the Long Beach Island Community Center, Inc., a nonprofit organization receiving government funding. Fifteen people made up the board of directors, with the pastor of St. Francis Parish serving as president.  The remaining members included elected officials from different towns, business leaders and residents.

St. Francis Parish used the center for all its needs, including religious education programs and parish events, but it became the place to go on LBI for culture and recreation.

Exercise, dance, swimming and tennis programs sprang up.   Cultural events, including art shows, became sought-after events. With the installation of tennis courts, saunas and an outdoor pool, families – even those who summered there – bought memberships. The pools were used for lifeguard training, vital to the beach community.

Resident Sandy Close, who started swimming to relieve pain following shoulder surgery, said, “It means a lot to me. I swim here six days a week, all year. Swimming and the stretching and strength-building class keeps me in great shape. The people here are friendly and wonderful.”

 As the popularity of the center grew, so did the need for volunteers. Many parishioners donated their time to answer telephones, work in offices and the pantry, or supervise children, but anyone who enjoyed the programs gave back, adding their names to the roster of volunteers. Some families had two or three generations serving as volunteers.  Helen O’Connor, a volunteer since 1982, said, “There is a certain mentality of the people who volunteer.   We stay connected like family.” 

Something for Everyone

The demand for social services has grown dramatically, and the current economic climate brings more clients to the government’s assistance programs.         

Linda Falb, director of Senior Services, noted, “Our center now operates three outreach centers for seniors in southern Ocean County. Each day we care for 6,000 seniors from South Toms River to Tuckerton.”  The senior program, open Monday through Friday, integrates lunch, education, recreation and leisure time for its participants.

“Our mission is to keep our seniors independent and in their own houses,” said Connie Becraft, the center’s executive director.  “While we offer delivery of meals, we encourage people to come into the center for lunch to keep them social.  We notice what’s going on, who’s eating, who’s not, so we can notify families.” 

Low-income families have access to free parenting and family intervention programs and support groups through Family Support Services.

“We listen to the needs in the community,” said Lori Tomaro, director of Family Support Services. “We are always looking to see what else we can do for our clients. We start small and see what we can do.  When it works, we show the state what’s needed.” 

Human Concerns, a homeless prevention program, assists clients in paying utilities bills or rent through grants from charitable organizations and private donations. The program also distributes food to the needy through the pantry, which was expanded in 2003.

Through the Counseling Center, all Ocean County residents have access to professional psychotherapists and support groups.  The center not only operates the county’s 24-hour rape crisis intervention program and a sexual abuse/assault hotline, but also trains advocates for victims of such crimes.

What began as a babysitting service for exercise class participants evolved into a full-time preschool for children from ages 14 months through five years.  Operating year round, five days a week from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m., the preschool is accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs with 75 children enrolled. 

In these hard economic times when government is cutting spending, Father Kluge said, “Everyone is competing for the same dollar.  Food bank costs have increased, but here we thank God for our parishes and other churches and synagogues. Even our local banks have baskets to collect food for the St. Francis Center pantry.”  Each month St. Francis Parish has a second collection for one of the departments of the center.

A Year of Celebration    

On April 29, nearly 300 friends of the center enjoyed a brunch in the gymnasium as the first of three celebrations in honor of the center’s 40th anniversary.   “It was a great event, giving people the opportunity to see our history in scrapbooking and how far the center has come,” said Becraft.   “They were able to socialize and talk about where they were when we started.”

The next celebration will be the LBIsland Luau at the center’s tennis courts on July 14, featuring a pig roast, entertainment by a Hawaiian troupe, and a demonstration on Reclamming the Bay, an environmental education program sponsored by Rutgers University.

On Sept. 28 the Anniversary Gala will be held at the Sea Shell Club in Beach Haven as the last celebration of the center’s milestone. Tickets for the event are available online at www.stfrancislbi.org.

The scheduling of three events was intended to give everyone an opportunity to participate in some way, explained Father Kluge.  

As always, the heart of the parish lives up to its motto, “With open arms for all.”