WILDWOOD – Frank Stone, director of Lazarus House Ministries, had somber news for members of the Greater Wildwoods Chamber of Commerce at its recent luncheon: Business is booming.
Normally, that would be a great message to give at a chamber of commerce gathering, but Lazarus House operates as an emergency food pantry in the heart of Wildwood. Stone told the chamber members Lazarus House distribution was up 30% over last year. Asked if that was a 30% increase in distribution or in clients, he answered, “Both.”
“This is happening to food pantries across the county,” Stone said.
The Herald talked to Stone at Lazarus House, located in the back part of the Living Waters Veterans Memorial Chapel at Burk and Pacific avenues. The food pantry moved there in 2016 after having operated for six years out of double-wide trailers on the site of the former St. Ann Elementary School. According to Stone, Lazarus House is in the process of becoming owner of the property where it now operates.
The current schedule allows clients to visit once a week, on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday, between 10 a.m. and noon.
Their system, which Stone said allows better interaction between volunteers and clients, sees the clients coming into what resembles a small market, where they can select from the items available.
This system, they found, works better than simply handing the clients a bag of items, which might contain something they would not eat.
“We treat them with dignity,” Stone said. “We’re not just throwing things at them.”
Local need is being exacerbated by actions taken at the federal level, which included cutting the SNAP program by $186 billion nationwide, with the cuts potentially affecting 827,000 people in New Jersey.
Stone said that, as of this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been directed not to report numbers on food insecurity because it is too political.
“USDA also cut back $9 million that was going to local farmers,” Stone said.
Lazarus House receives a lot of its food donations from individuals, churches and other organizations, but still counts on the Community Food Bank of New Jersey-Southern Branch, located in Egg Harbor Township.
Stone said Lazarus House gets a delivery from the Community Food Bank once a month, and there are normally 10 to 12 Knights of Columbus to help unload. However, whereas they used to receive 15 cases of eggs each month, they are now receiving none. They used to receive 10 cases of whole chickens, and are now getting chicken legs only.
Lazarus House has had to make other cuts. “The food pantry stopped giving out coffee because we can’t afford it,” Stone said.
Despite federal cuts, which trickle down through the state, Lazarus House has been able to make do with the resources it has. Stone called Lazarus House an ecumenical food pantry, as it is regularly supported by half a dozen mainline denomination churches and Living Waters. A positive note, he said, has been the support of the Methodist church in North Wildwood, which donates produce grown in what he called a “victory garden.”
Cape May Elementary School had a contest to see which classroom could collect the most food for the pantry. The Girl Scouts made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give out, along with wrapped snacks and notes of encouragement. Stone said Wildwood Catholic Academy had a “cereal box dominos” event, and afterward donated all the boxes of cereal. “Coincidentally, cereal is a highly requested item,” he said.
“People are asking for, butter, milk and cereal. We have people living in motels who have only two cooking items – a microwave and a can opener,” Stone said. The Lazarus House had so many requests it now stocks can openers.
That morning (Oct. 17), Stone said, someone dropped off $500 in gift cards.
He said the Coast Guard Training Center-Cape May also brings food to donate. He said food they take to the field cannot be put back on the shelf.
He also credited donors over the last nine years or so with allowing Lazarus House to receive a walk-in freezer, three refrigeration units and new flooring throughout the facility.
Lazarus House maintains a list of 75 volunteers, and there is a waiting list to volunteer. Stone said the average age of the volunteers is 75, and some are 90. Among them are two retired doctors, four retired nurses and a CPA.
“They are great resources,” he said. “They are part of our outreach and make a measurable difference.”
Stone called the volunteers a “melting pot – a unique blend of religious backgrounds.” He said it is good for them to meet others with different faith backgrounds, adding, “There is no preaching” – that is, other than the message to live by the Lazarus House mission, to treat the clients with dignity and respect, and to help their guests have a better day.
He said that in September, Lazarus House served 542 households, comprising 907 adults and 377 children. He said the food pantry gets two to four new people walk in each day it is open.
The pantry also delivers. “We take orders for the homebound and disabled and deliver on Wednesdays,” Stone said.
One of the volunteers is a retired UPS driver, who makes the deliveries. On the Lazarus House wish list is a new van for the deliveries. “We’re faith-based. We believe in miracles,” Stone said.
The pantry also provides bags of food to the Glenwood Avenue School in Wildwood, delivering them to the school nurse, who hands them out before the weekend.
Stone said Lazarus House also mails a card to clients, which they are to send back, that verifies their address. However, Lazarus House will also help the homeless.
“If they come in, and even if they don’t have an ID, it’s not a problem – they will still get food,” he said.
Stone said he understands that some people don’t see, or want to see, the clients. He said the Cape May County Board of Realtors has asked him three times to speak at holiday gatherings, and he has heard, “We were not aware of this.” He said poverty is one of the reasons there are 17 food pantries in Cape May County.
Stone said there is an unspoken goal that they might never achieve.
“Our hidden mission is to go out of business,” he said.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
