We certainly are grateful to Princeton Fitness and Wellness who hosted a toiletries drive for us. The containers were overflowing each time we checked them for the four week drive!  Thank you to the community at Princeton Fitness & Wellness for your generous donations and the community at large who came into the facility to donate to Bentley.  We are so blessed with the variety of basic needs products that will help our participant families tremendously.  Thank you for your generous donations and support!

All participant families in the Bentley program participate in a financial seminar designed to help them learn how to prepare and follow a workable budget, control spending, reduce debt, improve credit scores, understand hidden fees and learn everything about their finances to head towards financial solvency.

Last night at our new warehouse distribution facility, we held the financial class for new participant families. George Jarvis, our faithful financial facilitator, is shown here answering numerous questions where our participants gained so much vital information. Thank you, George, for presenting such an educational and informative financial seminar. Thank you to Princeton United Methodist Church for the chairs for our participants!

Our participant families certainly were surprised and extra happy this week with the many types of ice creams to choose from!  We brought back a truckload.  Thank you to Stop & Shop for providing such incredible sweet treats for our participant families.

We are growing and expanding and are in need of drivers to help us pick up generous provisions from our generous providers on a scheduled basis in the region. Training will be provided.  Please contact us for more information at 908.227.0684.  Thank you!

In addition to the wide range of wonderful perishable groceries we provide to our participant families, each week we fill our shelves of non-perishable bagged, boxed and canned provisions for our participant families.  We are in need of the following non-perishable items listed below to stock our food pantry shelves. Please donate during the following days and times for these specific items:  Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11:00AM – 4:00PM.  Please drop off at our warehouse distribution facility, Bentley Building #2 at 4064 Route 1 North, Monmouth Junction 08852.  We thank you for your generous donations.

Fruit and Vegetable Group:   canned vegetables, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, canned fruit, fruit juice, dried fruits, shelf-stable fruit cups.

Grain Group:  oatmeal, crackers, all types of pasta, cereals, cream of wheat, all types of rice, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, healthy snack bars.

Protein Group:  canned tuna, canned salmon, canned chicken, canned beans, canned soup, dried beans, canned chili, nuts, peanut butter.

Milk Group:  boxed shelf-stable milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk.

Additional :  flour, sugar, spices, dressings, marinades, ketchup, mustard, coffee, tea.

Our so generous provider, Trader Joe’s, provided our families in the fall with amaryllis bulbs in lovely containers.  We are all enjoying them in February, as they bloomed just in time for Valentine’s Day and beyond.  These beauties are truly magnificent with such a show of color and we thank you for providing not only the most amazing and incredible food provisions to Bentley, but lovely flowers and in this case, amaryllis which we will care for so we will receive blooms next year!  Thank you so very much.

Princeton Fitness & Wellness, in support of Bentley Community Services, is hosting a toiletries drive from February 15 – March 15, 2015.  Generous donations are greatly appreciated and please drop off during their hours of operation. Families that are struggling financially do not have the disposable monies they once had to afford these much needed basic needs toiletries.

Princeton Fitness & Wellness, located at 1225 State Road, Route 206, Princeton, NJ 08540, is the region’s most spectacular, professional and comprehensive fitness and wellness center, offering valuable services for the entire community. It is their goal to provide you with the proper environment, education, motivation, and professional instruction to help you achieve your fitness goals.

Suggested generous donations of toiletries are shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, body lotion, soap, body wash, disposable/regular razors, blades, shaving cream, toothpaste, toothbrushes, q-tips, band-aids, powder, wipes and toilet paper. Generous donations of toiletries and also non-perishable food provisions may also be dropped off at the distribution facility, 4064 Route 1 North, Monmouth Junction 08852.  Please call 908-227-0684 to check for hours of operation.

For more information about Princeton Fitness & Wellness, please call 609-683-7888 and visit their website at princetonfitnessandwellness.com.  Bentley is grateful to Princeton Fitness & Wellness for hosting the toiletries drive.  Thank you for your support and generous donations!

We certainly are grateful to our generous providers for the generous provisions that are given to us when we pick up weekly from them.  We are growing and building at our new, expanded facility as struggling, working families become participants in the Bentley program. Our distribution is increasing.

In fact, we are now outgrowing our refrigerators and freezers, as many of our incredible and amazing provisions we are given are perishables.  We now are in need of a walk-in refrigerator and walk-in freezer so we will be able to accommodate the growth we are experiencing.

We are truly blessed to be receiving such a diverse and wide range of groceries so our participant families may feed their families well-balanced, nourishing meals where they choose from a full array of provisions and make decisions based on the needs of their individual families.

Gee, we sure are blessed and extremely grateful for our two community leader volunteers that have been with us from our “infancy”.  We all would like to recognize the commitment and efforts of Margaret Taylor and Janet Smith who have helped us practically every Tuesday and Saturday mornings to help break down the incredible generous provisions we are given.  They even have added Wednesday mornings and now lead our other wonderful community volunteers and participant family volunteers in the community we have at Bentley! Thank you for your commitment and dedication.