Our Support of Local Food Banks
Good Shepherd has been a supporter of the Bayshore Lunch Program since its inception in 2013, when the kitchen was established at the Community Church in Keyport and also served a hot meal each month at the kitchen at St. Mark's in Keansburg for fifteen years before that. Good Shepherd's Social Ministry Committee provides both food and financial assistance to BLP through two programs. Each month, the Food Collection Program collects and delivers food donated by the congregation and the BLP Sponsor's Program sends financial help from members of the parish on a monthly basis. BLP welcomes and provides a hot meal for sixty to eighty people five days a week and also offers counseling and medical services to its clients.
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Located in Red Bank, the Lunch Break program provides daily hot lunches for local people and a hot breakfast on Saturday. Good Shepherd has provided both food and financial help to Lunch Break for many years.
The Community Outreach Group is located at Christ Episcopal Church in Middletown and includes the Calico Cat Thrift Shop, Pantry and Cupboard. Good Shepherd is represented on COG's board of directors by a member of the congregation and contributes financially to its operation. In addition, the church supports COG's Household/Personal supplies project with bags of cleaning and personal care supplies donated by members of the congregation, the Back to School Program in the fall, the Christmas Gift for Children Collection and others. Haiti earthquake victims, Japanese sunami victims, Wells for Africa, Family Promise, the Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties and others.