Isaiah G. Cooper

The first day of autumn begins on the 23rd of this month, which marks the beginning of Fall.  The fall season is a time when the air is crisp and the trees start changing colors and dropping their leaves to give way for next year’s new foliage. Take the time out of your busy schedule to enjoy this beautiful phenomena that Mother Nature provides.  

This is a busy month for most families since children will be returning to school and some children will be starting school for the first time.  We serve a large number of families with school age children (Grammar/Middle/High School) and try to provide “Back to School” supplies whenever possible. If you have school age children you know how costly some of these items can be. Some of our clients have several children and have enough hardships in their lives so we try, whenever possible, to lessen the burden. We do our best in providing them with the essentials such as pencils, pens, notebooks, composition books, loose leaf paper, binders, rulers, erasers, crayons, compasses, protractors, pencil and pen cases, etc.  School backpacks and calculators are always in demand but due to cost we don’t have the luxury of being able to provide these items.  If you are able to donate one or more of these items it would be great.  Your donation for the children we serve is greatly appreciated.  Feel free to contact us during our hours of operation if you require additional information.

This is great news for all of the agencies that will benefit from this program, so we would like to share it with you.  This is an excerpt taken from an article in the Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean County Agency Monthly Bulletin.  “Governor’s Initiative Passed – This initiative was approved and will provide $3 million for the purchase of nutritious food.  The program will be administered by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) and will be available to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) pantries, soup kitchen and shelters only”.  The allocations will be administered through the foodbank.  We are looking forward to this new program which will so greatly benefit our clients.

Our latest status:

1. We would like to publicly thank our dedicated WebMaster Byron for taking the time out of his busy schedule to take pictures of all our volunteers and current facility.  Like the saying goes “A picture is worth a thousand words”.  Byron has placed candid shots throughout our website and is working on a slide show which we are sure you will enjoy.  Look for it in the “Who We Are” section of our website later this month.  Thanks again Byron you out did yourself as usual!
2. We are waiting for approval on the application we submitted, to be able to conduct 50/50 Raffles to raise money for our new building fund, from the NJ State Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission.
3. We continue our research on Federal, State and Local grants that are available and submit applications whenever we meet the criteria.  We still have not received any feedback on some of the grant applications we have submitted so we are still hopeful that we might receive a positive response.
4. We continue to receive donations toward our new building fund.  Please help us spread the word of what we are trying so hard to accomplish so that the families we serve can look forward to a better tomorrow.

If you have any questions, comments, etc. please feel free to contact us via email or call us.  Your continued support keeps the KMFP Staff and Volunteers motivated to continue striving toward our ultimate goal of being able to provide a better future for the many families we serve.  Thank you!

Isaiah G. Cooper
Executive Director
Keyport Ministerium Food Pantry, Inc.