|
|
|
Lacey Food Bank - ARCHIVES
|
 |
|
|
|
Who we are and where we've been. On this page we will tell you about the history of the food bank.
Emil "Mr.Food Bank" Ciangetti has been involved with
the food bank since it's beginning. Assuming the chairmanship in 1992, he ran the bank throughout the 90's. Although he resigned
as chairman in December 2000, he continues to serve as a dedicated volunteer.
In 1989 the Department of Agriculture started supplying surplus food to the Welfare Department of Lacey Township.
The director of this now defunct program, Barbara Graveman,supervised the food distribution with the help of community volunteers.
This monthly distribution, then as it is now, was meant to give people a "boost" to help them get through to the
end of the month with food on the table.
There was no space or refrigeration available and to store & distribute
the food required ingenuity on the part of the volunteers. They would accept delivery from the agricultural department the
day before distribution which was held at Community Hall. Utilizing cabinets in the basement of the township municipal building
and the nooks and crannies at Community Hall, they somehow got it all together. Two of the original volunteers, Emil Ciangetti
and Zygmund Zwierchowski, estimate they hauled thousands of pounds of food around town each month - stashing it, retrieving
it, packing it, distributing it, then starting all over again.
.
Before the food bank got it's "home" in the old MUA building, it required a lot of ingenuity to store extra food. Here,
former Chairman Emil Ciangetti, and Zygmund Zwierchowski are shown working out of an old army truck that the township lent
them.
|
| Alma Blair, Original Chairperson, Lacey Food Bank |
|
|
In 1990,Alma Blair became the first volunteer chairman of the
food bank and served for two years until 1992 when Emil Ciangetti took over, a post he held until December of 2000 when volunteer
Guy Burnett took over the chairmanship. In spite of a scarcity of food and money and the lack of any space, they managed
to keep the program going, even in the light of new beaurocratic decisions which threatened to sink them.
The US Government
decided to cut the surplus food program from a monthly to a quarterly event, a catastrophic decision for the food bank which
was at best, still in the toddler stage. Many people were dependent on the supplental food. What to do?
The group
reached out to local supermarkets, bakeries and churches.Pastor Roy Minnix of Village Lutheran Church responded with more
food than they could store. Borrowing an old army truck that the township owned, they stored the food in the truck as well
in cupboards of the municipal building basement.Some of the food had missing labels so the clients were jollied into regarding
these cans as "mystery meals" , with the warning that if they found dog food to give it to the dog! But at least the monthly
distributions could continue. Then the bureaucrats struck again....
The directive was that if they were to continue
with the government surplus program, they would not be allowed to give ANY food from ANY OTHER SOURCE to their needy people
because "all people in a US government program must receive the same benefits".
 Seen here is the new chairman, Guy
Burnett. After serving as a volunteer for five years, he replaced Emil Ciangetti who chaired the food bank
for over a decade.
.
At this point a meeting was called. Attending were the welfare director, chairman
Emil,Pastor Minnix, the then township administrator Jorge Rod, and the Lacey Township Committee. It was determined that there
were enough needy people in town to continue the program, with or without the help of the US government. A slogan was coined
"Gifts from the community" as a way to work around the strange and arbitrary edict.
In Sept
of 1995 the government abruptly discontinued the program nationwide and the food bank stood alone with all food and funds
necessary for survival to be provided by private donations, a circumstance which remains to this date. Somehow, October's
needs were met by the rest of the army truck food, and in November the Rotary Club stepped in and provided Thanksgiving baskets
and staples for all, a tradition they have continued annually.
Then the Vineland storage facility of the
US Government called to offer free food left over from the program. A call went out for space. Steve Hutler offered the use
of the Forked River Freezer and the MUA donated a room in the building where the program is now held. The Village Lutheran
Church donated shelving and after a few years of sharing space with other township departments and agencies, the old MUA building
became the headquarters for the food bank. Somehow the program moved on, always looking for food and funds and getting gifts
from the community.
In the midst of all this "juggling" the operation of the Lacey Welfare
Board was turned over to Ocean County for administration and so now the program truly stood alone.
Some
things never change. Recently the food bank fell upon hard times. Funds were almost non-existent and the food outdated and
short of supply. And so a call went out for more gifts from the community. With a new motto coined "A Community Caring
- By Sharing".
So far, many in the community have shown that they care. Hopefully the program will
be renewed and perpetuated by a commitment from the business, professional and private sectors of our community so that we
can always give these gifts from the community to those in need.
The Bureaucrats Struck Again!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
