By Steve Sears
On the first and third Friday of every month, from 10:15 a.m. – 1 p.m., a line of Kearny residents can be seen alongside the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington at 663 Kearny Ave.
The Kearny Food Pantry Network, located on the church’s lower level, has opened its doors. Goodness and sharing abide.
Susan Harris, a Leader Team member of the pantry, said their hard work is helping the good people of Kearny and neighboring towns who find themselves falling on hard times.
“We have worked very hard on it, and I think we are doing it all for the right reasons,” Harris said. “ We really work hard to treat everyone who comes to it with dignity and respect. It has worked out better than any of us could have expected it to, so it is blessed.”
Also located inside First Presbyterian Church of Arlington is the Heaven Cent Thrift Shop, which was founded during the economic struggles of 2007 – 2008. The shop offers quality, gently used clothing, shoes, and housewares so that families can keep their children clothed.
Rev. Elaine Connolly, Pastor since 2010, recalled thinking at that time that the shop could bring in maybe $250 monthly.
“It has since far surpassed that, and we are still selling for the same prices,” Rev. Connolly said. “It has just been a huge source of bounty and has made other ministries possible for us.”
Including the food pantry, which it has helped fund since its 2012 inception.
“It really is a church effort,” Rev. Connolly said. “When I first came here, they did not have a food pantry, and I have always been part of churches that had food pantries. But here, what was obvious in this congregation was that they liked to cook, liked to bake, liked to feed, and they liked to eat. A food pantry was the natural thing to have here.”
The Presbyterian Church of Arlington, whose members come from four towns, does a lot of good work for its neighbors. In addition to the food bank and thrift shop ministries, the congregation also offers low-impact exercise sessions for those aged 60 – 90, has a wonderful Healing Prayers group for those who need comfort (of which this writer has been a beneficiary), and hosts other groups onsite as well.
Sheree Drancek manages the Heaven Cent Thrift Shop, which is buttressed by about 20 volunteers, and which also sells goods like household items, books, jewelry, and more at greatly discounted prices. At Christmas, families packed the store shopping for gifts, decorations, and snow boots. and snow jackets.
“We are touching lives in different ways,” Drancek said. “The people, the customers that come in, so many of them are very needy. A lot of people with young families have come in for kids’ clothes, which makes sense because they grow out of their clothes when they are older within a year, and when they are infants, within a couple of months.”
First Presbyterian Church of Arlington, founded in 1877, has a caring history in the community.
In fact, from 1917 to 1920, the church was used as a makeshift hospital during the flu pandemic. A century later, when COVID-19 emerged, things came full circle, and Kearny Food Pantry Network distributions within six weeks grew from 60 to over 500 people.
And therein was a big challenge, and a remedy. Almost all of the churches in town had their own food pantry, but when the pandemic hit, they all shut down – except for the pantry at First Presbyterian Church of Arlington, which remained open, and for good reason. Harris and Holly Hilton Capobianco contacted all the churches and the synagogue in town, and all collectively became the Kearny Interfaith Network, and pivoted to form a larger food pantry at the church.
“If anything ever felt like loaves and fishes, it was that,” Rev. Connolly said of the joined forces even beyond the houses of worship and elevated food distributions. “And I am telling you, this town was incredible. We had donations coming from police organizations, firefighters, City Hall, civic organizations, and individuals. Teachers put together little bags for the children who had to stand in line with their parents because they were not in school. It was amazing what this town did.”
For the pantry that currently serves about 200 to 250 people, donors range from individuals to civic groups, the police and fire departments, schools, scout groups, local companies, and small charitable organizations. A great portion also comes from the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside, as well.
Harris said, “It makes me feel very humbled and very grateful that I am in a place in a time where I can help people by providing them with food.”
And Drancek, who recently was away from the shop for a brief period of time, was eager to return.
“I missed it terribly,” she said. “I missed the interaction with the volunteers. They have all become friends, or I should say, family. We have developed faith in the thrift store. We have developed a family where we look after each other. It has been a very positive experience.”
The Heaven Cent Thrift Shop is open for shopping and donations on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
“When I first came into the sanctuary, and there were the beautiful windows at the back of the sanctuary, and I looked up, I remember thinking. ‘It would be so easy to worship in this space because it is so beautiful,’” Rev. Connolly said. “And I could feel around me the saints, the ones who had founded it and the ones who had worshiped there. Their love, their spirit, their energy, it just felt like it was still here and present to the grace of God. There isn’t a day when I’m here, when I walk through the sanctuary, and I look up at those windows, and I think to myself, ‘This community of believers is just deep in terms of community, and I think a great deal has to do with how they’ve reached out to take care of other people, too.”
To make a monetary donation, please visit https://fpcakearny.org/ministries. To donate food items themselves, contact Harris at harris@vcfa.com or through the Facebook page via Messenger to see what the pantry needs.
For thrift store donations, call the church office (201-991-3513) to arrange for item drop-offs. Monies collected fund the food pantry and church operations.
