Morning Star’s building at 1 Morning Star Drive in Bayville is new, but its hunger ministry is not. “We’ve had a food pantry for many years,” says Rev. Myrlene Hamilton Hess, “but we didn’t have a facility appropriate for a public food bank, so it remained small and grew through word of mouth.”
The new Morning Star Food Pantry opened to the public on August 10, 2008. It has grown to handling over 150 people with food on a monthly basis and continues to grow each month. As part of Morning Star’s Loaves and Fishes Ministry. Special projects in 2008 include backpacks for children in September, Halloween costumes for children in October, Thanksgiving turkeys in November, and Christmas presents to families in December.
Current sources of funding for this ministry include 50% of the money collected from Cents-Ability and donations and food from the congregation and the general public.
At a time when so many families and individuals find themselves in need, however, the food pantry needs sponsors and donations of money, food, health and beauty, cleaning items and clothing. Local businesses are ideal for partnerships with the church as are nearby congregations. Monmouth Presbytery is proud to be a new partner: at its November meeting, the Cents-Ability Grants Committee approved a $1,000 grant.
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