The dedicated, hard working employee volunteer teams from our corporate partner, Bloomberg and several of our participant families came out in cool, cloudy and windy conditions to help cover newly planted tomatoes at our generous provider farm, Norz Hill on Thursday. The physical hard work of laying down plastic and digging soil to secure it down certainly was challenging in the weather conditions.  Over 12,000 feet! was accomplished thanks to the many helping hands that will ensure these young tomato plants will be protected and thrive.  Thank you to everyone for your hard work and of your giving to make a difference for the greater good!

We are so thankful to our generous providers for providing us with such healthy, nourishing and well-balanced food provisions to distribute each week, providing sustenance for our participant families. Our generous providers absolutely amaze us and we certainly are blessed and thankful. Every box, bag, container or pallet is truly a gift.

We have organized a focus group as part of the community health needs assessment that the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) Somerset and the Healthier Somerset coalition are working on! The goal of this community needs assessment is to gain a greater understanding of the health issues of Somerset County residents, how those needs are currently being addressed, and where there are gaps and opportunities to address these needs in the future.

Our focus group, taking place this week at our new facility, will be facilitated by a staff member of Health Resources in Action, a third party hired by RWJUH to support this assessment. We are honored and proud to take part in the community health needs assessment for Somerset County.

We are extremely saddened by the tremendous loss of Barry Birch this week.  Barry is the Co-Founder of Birch Community Services, our mentor organization in Portland, Oregon.

Barry, such a special and unique individual, treasure, mentor and inspiration will be truly missed. Please keep Suzanne Birch in your thoughts and prayers.  Barry went home to heaven. Well done, good and faithful servant.

We welcome Bonefish Grill of Lawrenceville into our community of generous providers. Our first generous provisions were a variety of delicious potatoes and frozen soups. Our participant families are thrilled. Thank you for your generous provisions.  We certainly are grateful. Welcome aboard!

Trader Joe’s and Stop & Shop, two of our generous providers, continue to generously fill our freezers with incredible provisions of meats, chicken, seafood, smoked meats, pizzas, entrees, sides, ice creams, gelato and more!  Thank you for providing the participant families with these amazing, nourishing provisions and sweet treats! The families are certainly enjoying, preparing and feeding their families with the wonderful provisions you provide and we certainly are grateful.

We thank the community of shoppers that came out on Saturday after the Friday snow to shop at McCaffrey’s in Princeton.  We collected a little over 1,200 lbs. of much needed non-perishable food provisions to be able to stock our shelves of these crucial staples. Thank you for your help and support. We also thank our generous provider, McCaffrey’s, for being the host location for our food drive.

We welcome Bed, Bath & Beyond into our community of generous providers. Thank you for your generous provisions. We certainly are grateful and blessed.  Welcome aboard!

We will be at McCaffrey’s in Princeton, our generous provider, for a food drive for much needed non-perishable items with the Bentley community of volunteers.  The drive will run from 9:00am – 3:00pm.  We thank you for your generous donations and support! Below is the suggested list:

PLEASE HELP STOCK OUR SHELVES

SUGGESTED LIST OF NON-PERISHABLES

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

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-various flavors, evaporated, condensed

Toiletries:  soap, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, toothpaste, razors

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

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATIONS!

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!