Crest Pastor Accepts Donations For Church Food Pantry

CREST HAVEN – Pastor Jeff Salasin of Crest Community Church, Wildwood Crest accepted from freeholders, March 12, a dozen boxes of non-perishable food collected from county employees and another filled with Girl Scout cookies donated by an 8-year-old, second grade Illinois girl.
That special white box atop the 12 donated by county employees came a long way. It was from Neela Chandraraj, an 8-year-old second graders from Wilmette, Ill. Along with her Girl Scout cookies, she wrote of her hope that the children who received them would smile.
Salasin, also director of the More Than Enough Food Pantry, briefed the board on the extent of outreach done by congregation members for families in need on Five Mile Beach.
Church members realized “about five years ago that 80 percent of students who attend Wildwood schools received” free or reduced priced lunches. In an effort to help those in need, they started a food pantry. Salasin said they “did not realize the floor would fall from under the economy.”
In less than four years, the pantry registered 2,000 households in Cape May County. Although it is open just two hours on Monday evenings, “In those two hours we take in an average of 35 households,” the pastor said.
He said the donations would be “A score for us. We have a pretty basic offering. This will give us some variety, I peeked into the boxes,” he added.
Those who are assisted by the church’s pantry do so based on the number of persons in the household. They are allotted a certain weigh of food based on that number, he said.
“They get to shop from our shelves,” he added. “Pantries that do that are highly appreciated. We get to recommend things to them,” Salasin said.
Once a month, on Monday, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., families can also enjoy a meal at Crest Community Soup Kitchen, and then go grocery shopping at the food pantry. In the event they also need clothes, the church offers its Crest Community Clothing Closet.
The pastor told of the unannounced, Thanksgiving dinner that, through word of mouth only brought over 400 for the free turkey dinner.
Of the Monday meals, Salasin said there is no qualification.
“I told people, if Bill Gates shows up, we will feed him,” said Salasin.
The favorite meal served at the church, he said, is hot dogs and baked beans. “We cannot cook enough,” he said.
Before the church had a clothes closet, Salasin said someone from Catholic Charities asked if they would accept some coats. “I said, we don’t have a clothing closet, but we’ll take them,” he said. When he went outside, there was an SUV (sport utility vehicle) “jam-packed, with the doors bursting open” filled with 25 bags of coats.
Moved by the spirit, a church member volunteered to undertake that closet mission. Now, he noted, the church has a “full-blown clothing closet.” That closet has grown in scope since Hurricane Sandy, he said
“We are thankful for this (donation). This is a big gust of wind in our sail. When the board and staff do something like this, it’s a big encouragement for us. When the guys at the food pantry and soup kitchen hear about this, they will be stoked,” Salasin said.