Happy New Year!

1. We would like to thank St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church for allowing us to use their hall to distribute the gifts and holiday dinners.
2. “Thank you” to all the Churches, Organizations and Individuals for their generous Christmas gift donations for our children.
3. This year we participated in the United Way Snowflake Make a Wish Drive and would like to thank Ms. Nicole M. Bizzocco, Assistant Director of Community Impact United Way of Monmouth County and her staff for all their hard work in coordinating this effort.  We also want to express our deepest gratitude to ALL the donors who participated in this drive since without their generosity we would not have received all the gifts we did for our little ones. 
4. “Thank You” to the MAMS Wrestling, Willow Tree Club and Girls & Boys Basketball who sponsored a Toy Drive on December 19th.  We were lucky to benefit from this drive and were able to distribute extra gifts, making this holiday a little more special for all the children we serve. 
5. We distributed holiday gifts to over 195 children and distributed 50 turkeys to families, which were received from the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties.
6. The Keyport Police Department is planning on continuing to support us through food donations throughout the year and we cannot thank them enough for this effort.  Please help them help us.
7. “Thank You” to Mr. Jacob Moin from the Aberdeen Senior Health Care Day Care Center who has generously donated a mini-bus to our organization.  We were in need of a vehicle for several purposes therefore this donation needless to say is very much appreciated.
8. Our “Special Needs” and “How You Can Help” items are being fulfilled slowly but surely due to the generosity of several organizations and individuals.  We cannot thank them enough and tell them how appreciative we are that they think of us.
9. We now have all our paperwork in order to start our 50/50 Raffle, which we will be starting this month.  Please visit our website later on this month for full details. 
10. Donations toward our new building continue to come in and we are so grateful.  Please continue to support us in this effort regardless of amount - we truly need your help.
11. We continue to submit grant applications for our new building.

The KMFP Staff and Volunteers would like you to know that without your friendship, support and belief in our work we would not be able to accomplish all that we do.  Your belief in our work of assisting those that are less fortunate keeps us striving to do more.  We are a pantry but we keep taking that “Extra Step” to assist our clients with other services (Food Stamps, housing, helping them make the phone calls for other assistance they may require, etc.) whenever we can.   Please keep believing and supporting us – YOU are our motivation.

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