Food It all started when Dan and Tricia Curtin raised their hands in church.
That was 20 years ago. Today the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Fund Pantry is not only a haven for anyone with needs either from personal struggles or circumstances that have changed unexpectedly. But it is also an integral part of a borough that believes in working together to help anyone in need. As Tricia puts it, “Our mission is simple: to make sure no one in our community has to face hunger or hardship alone .”
Highlands Mayor Carolynn Bouillon couldn’t agree more: “The Food Pantry at OLPH is such an integral part of our town to help those who need it. Many residents were not aware of how much they do until COVID hit. The donations poured in from many groups and individuals alike. Now, the Borough has drop off stations at both Borough Hall and at the Police Department dedicated to the Food Pantry to make it easier for folks to donate to their mission.”
The start was in 2007, when at a Sunday mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Route 36, then pastor the Reverend Robert Tynski asked for volunteers to spearhead opening a pantry in the small room in the entrance to the gym. Without consulting each other, both Danny and Tricia raised their hands.
Owners of Comprise Technologies, a successful professional business on Route 36, Middletown, where Dan takes the lead and Trish is Director of Community Services, and residents of Highlands, the couple heard there was a need and felt confident they could spend the time and energy to make life at least a little better and a lot easier for neighbors, friends, and people they did not know.
So the first Food Pantry was opened, and became one very small local source of donated food for the immediate community with about 25 families a week coming to the small space beneath the church to accept whatever foods the pantry volunteers had gathered for that week.
Today, it is a major resource for many families throughout the entire Bayshore area. And the volunteers under Trish and Danny are equally dedicated to helping individuals and families in need throughout the Bayshore community by providing nutritious food, compassion, dignity, and hope. Today between 120 and 150 families a week are grateful for this resource.
Nor do the volunteers themselves want any recognition other than their own sense of well-being they are helping others. Tricia was reluctant to release any information about the time each of the dedicated volunteers donates on a regular basis, the numerous ways they make the Pantry as successful a resource as it is, or how they devote so much energy to making life a bit easier for someone else.
She and the other volunteers will talk about their many generous resources, however. Trici ticks off the list of generous, regular donors: Fulfill, the Food Bank of Monmouth, and Ocean Counties, weekly donations from Stop & Shop in Long Branch, Whole Foods in Red Bank, ABC and Foodtown in Atlantic Highlands, Panera of Middletown and Bagel Nook of Atlantic Highlands. Not only that, she enthuses but also “the Highlands Business Partnership and the Girls Scouts do frequent food drives for supplies and products that are other sources don’t supply such as personal care items.”
As a result, for more than 20 years, the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Food Pantry has been a place where neighbors help neighbors,” she smiles.
Every week, the volunteers welcome individuals and families with compassion, kindness, and dignity. “We know that behind every visit to the pantry is a person, a family, or a circumstance that may have changed unexpectedly.,” the business woman explains, “We don’t ask people to explain their struggles. We simply want them to know that they are welcome, they are cared for, and their community is here for them.”
The work isn’t easy, she concedes, nor is it easy to keep the freezer, refrigerator and shelves full. But for this pantry in Highlands, “ We are incredibly fortunate to have generous supporters who give their time, food, and financial resources to keep the pantry going,” Trish continued. . “Monetary donations are especially important because they allow us to purchase necessities that are not provided through Fulfill, including toilet paper, personal-care products, and other everyday essentials.”
She noted that personal-care items are always among their greatest needs, noting how something as simple as shampoo, toothpaste, soap, or toilet paper can make an enormous difference to a family already struggling to make ends meet.
“Our volunteers give their time because they believe in something bigger than themselves: the simple power of helping another person,” said the woman who started it all. “Over the years, countless volunteers and supporters have carried this mission forward, proving that a small act of kindness can become something much larger when an entire community comes together.”
Visitors to the weekly pantry will tell you that the OLPH Food Pantry is more than a place to receive food. It is a place of caring, connection, and hope. They sense, and try to put into words, that the Pantry represents what is best about the Bayshore community—the belief that everyone can come together, look after one another, especially when times are difficult, and everyone, both those in need and those giving the need, profit from the experience.
The volunteers don’t just limit their generosity to keeping the pantry filled, spotlessly clean, and ready to help. They participate in community activities within the borough, bringing laughter and happiness wherever they go. As an example, when a group of volutteers got together and Trish and Danny provided them all with costumes dressing them as fruits and vegetables, their truckload of everything from bananas and grapes to corn on the cob and string beans participated in the St. Patrick’s Day parade, bringing applause and cheers the entire route. In the end, it was the Food Pantry float that also won the trophy as the most unusual float in the entire parade.
Nor is it unusual to see parishioners stop downstairs on their way up to Sunday mass to drop off a bagful of personal items or a check to contribute to the Food Pantry. Local organizations, businesses, schools, and community members also contribute to ensuring those facing hardship have access to essential food and support.
“We welcome everyone with kindness and respect, recognizing that circumstances can change for any family at any time,” Trish stresses once again. “Through the generosity of our community and the commitment of our Virtus-trained volunteers, we strive not only to meet an immediate need, but to strengthen the spirit of caring and neighbor-to-neighbor support that has defined this Bayshore community for generations.”
“Our mission is simple,” she concluded, “we just want to nourish our neighbors, restore dignity, and make sure no one in our community faces hunger alone. We are grateful to everyone who has helped make that possible—and we look forward to continuing to serve our neighbors for many years to come.”
The Food Pantry at OLPH is open Sundays from 10:30 am -12 noon and Mondays from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm, downstairs from the church through an outside door on Miller St.
What began as a simple effort to help people in need has grown into a caring community supported by generations of parishioners, volunteers, local businesses, organizations, schools, and generous individuals throughout the Bayshore.
Food
One of the things they’re going to need to accommodate all these different uses is lots more parking places than they now have. There have been some other great business owners in town who went to their defense, saying parking isn’t a problem and Carton’s new plans should be approved.These are the things you hear when you attend planning and council meeting. One of the things they’re going to need to accommodate all these different uses is lots more parking places than they now have. There have been some other great business owners in town who went to their defense, saying parking isn’t a problem and Carton’s new plans should be approved.
