Will Work Ever Abound in Cape May County?

In what will seem just a few days, the “holiday season” will be here. As surely as the days will grow colder and nights longer, we will be deluged with pleas from various food banks and for toys that children less fortunate may have a joyous time even if their present condition is bleak.
A reminder of that season of donations came on Sat., Nov. 6 when members of Boy Scout Troop 65, Court House placed plastic bags on mailboxes seeking donations of non-perishable food.
It may be the only time of year many give thought to the real and pressing need of those who lack enough food to adequately feed their families.
In Joe Hart’s Nov. 3 story about First Baptist Church of Wildwood, which long ago linked with United Way of Cape May County, we learned that the free hot lunch program in Wildwood, focused on Wildwood residents in need, as well as the food pantry is visited by many working men and women whose minimum wage jobs leave little, if any, money left over for food after paying rent and other necessary bills.
It is easy to forget those in need. Seeing the photo of people enjoying a decent meal in the warmth of the church building was heart warming, but chilling is the aspect that many could find themselves dining there — out of necessity — in the matter of a few short weeks or months.
So fragile is the economy, and especially here in Cape May County, that there is a real possibility those who donate canned goods may be receiving them in a short period of time.
Lean times are nothing new to Cape May County residents, especially those who have weathered winters over the decades. During the recent political campaigns, we heard the issue of “job creation,” bantered about. Why not? It’s a gut issue to many. It sounds wonderful to point to the Cape May County Airport Industrial Park as the place where well-paying, “clean” jobs could be created and located. That’s about the extent of the discussion.
Consider the job potential at that industrial site, and look what was, and is no longer:
Timme Fabric, a real high-tech knitting industry that came here, but could not sustain the facility.
Everlon, another fabric maker, was here and left.
A seafood processing firm, whose name evades me, that gave a trial in part of the huge Everlon building, but could not make a profit and moved out.
For a brief span, there was promise from WABCO, Westinghouse Air Brake Co., which proposed making monorail-like cars, or something that looked like them at the airport. That never flew.
In the 1950-60s, at the airport, there was U.S. Overseas Airline, which had promise of employment, but suffered in the Jet Age. According to a website, “Another in the series of charter operators from Dave McQueen! Starting in 1946 United States Overseas Airlines flew mainly as a contract carrier for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy. USOA began scheduled flights within the USA in 1958 but lack of jet aircraft made it impossible to compete with established carriers and USOA went out of business in November 1964.”
Remember the Allegheny Commuter that linked this county and Atlantic City? There was great promise, too. To fly one of those aircraft was to have an ongoing prayer session with one’s Maker, from takeoff to landing. Exhilarating yes, profitable, no. That’s why it’s gone.
For many years, there were some ongoing businesses in the industrial park that employed a small number, but, one by one, they departed.
To be sure, there was never a drought of ideas of what could be done at the airport. Many of those ideas were unique, and, given the right timing and enough capital might have been successful. Trouble was timing was always off, and money vanished quicker than aviation fuel on a hot runway.
Unfortunately, those odd-looking Caribou aircraft parked all around the airport, which may take to the sky once in a blue moon, have become the symbol of this county’s airport and its economic promise. There’s a “Wow” factor, but it never takes off.
The commercial fishing (that includes clamming) industry, can be a real moneymaker, and is a bastion of county enterprise.
Trouble is, it is only open to healthy, hearty souls who can heave loads of ice, haul heavy nets, don’t mind working in lousy weather and on rolling decks in heavy seas, who don’t care if they sleep, and don’t worry about days off. When a captain says “The boat’s leaving at 3 a.m.” that’s it; lines are cast off, and you are either on board or you are not.
Scary to think, but if welfare funds ever dried up, Cape May County would be in dire straits since so many rely on welfare, in one for or another, to exist. That means food stamps (even thought there are no such things any longer) rental assistance, Women Infants and Children, and likely other I do not know.
So here we are, back to food pantry and toy collections.
The need is greater than ever, and donations are flagging.
I’ve heard some say, “I don’t mind giving, but every time you turn around, they are asking for more food donations!” Sad but true, and it seems the need will not decrease, at least in the very near future.
We need jobs, but don’t look to any government to generate them. Look to small business, since that is where the most likely employment upswing will take place.
At a Green Creek fence firm, I’ve noticed a hand-written sign “Help Wanted, Installers.” With so many seeking work, why does that sign remain? Up and down that highway are small businesses, which, if each hired one or two, that could add up to a solid number of workers off welfare or unemployment, and without relying on government for help.
The Lord provides food the birds, but He doesn’t deliver to the nest, they must work to get it.