Bentley Community Services is so grateful for the following local spring food drives:

*Spring Food Drive for Bentley at the Mary Jacobs Memorial Library in Rocky Hill until Monday, April 7, 2014.  Please drop off during library hours. List of suggested items are cereal, oatmeal, juice, peanut butter, jelly/jams, tomato sauce, soup, macaroni and cheese, coffee, tea, canned tuna, soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and toothpaste.

Thank you to Mary Jacobs Memorial Library. Thank you for your generous contributions!  We certainly are grateful.

*Spring Food Drive for Bentley at Rocky Hill Reformed Church in Rocky Hill, March 30 – April 20, 2014. Please contact [email protected] for drop off hours.  List of suggested items are pastas, rice, peanut butter, cereal, oatmeal, soup, tomato sauce, canned tuna, soap and deodorant.

Thank you to Rocky Hill Reformed Church.  Thank you for your generous contributions!  We certainly are grateful.

*Spring Food Drive for Bentley at Princeton Fitness & Wellness in Princeton, April 1-15, 2014.  Please drop off during hours of operation.  List of suggested items are pastas, rice, crackers, peanut butter, cereal, oatmeal, jams, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, dressings, tomato sauce, nuts, dried fruits, snack bars, gluten-free products, soups, beans, canned vegetables, canned tuna, coffee, tea, sugar, flour, juice, canned fruits, soap, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, body lotion, razors.    

Thank you to Princeton Fitness & Wellness.  Thank you for your generous contributions!  We certainly are grateful.                                                     

We are so honored and grateful to be the recipient of ShopRite Partners in Caring charitable donation. During the month of September for ShopRite Partners in Caring Hunger Action Month, ShopRite Hillsborough was one of 40 stores that raised the most fundraising donations. They were honored on Monday where General Mills placed two associates from each winning store on their Cheerios box.  Recognition was given to Lynette and Scott for doing an outstanding job.   With the monies raised, each store had the opportunity to nominate a charitable organization helping in the fight against hunger and food insecurity. ShopRite Hillsborough graciously nominated us and we are certainly grateful and blessed.  Thank you to Wakefern, General Mills, ShopRite Partners in Caring and especially to ShopRite Hillsborough for your support and confidence in our organization.  Thank you for your generous donation.  We certainly are grateful and blessed.

We are so grateful to McCaffrey’s Princeton for their generous provisions each week.  The fresh produce, dairy products, packaged meats and fresh breads and bakery are certainly needed and appreciated. We enjoy so much being so welcomed by your gracious and warm staff and truly appreciate their hard work.

We were in need of these provisions and you provided.  Our participant families are certainly thankful and we as an organization are truly blessed and grateful to you.  Thank you for being such a wonderful generous provider to Bentley – we are certainly grateful!

We are truly thankful and blessed for the full range of food provisions we receive from our generous provider, Trader Joe’s.  We are certainly so grateful for their support and generous giving to Bentley.  Each and every week their welcoming staff is such a pleasure to collaborate with and we thank you for providing much needed healthy food provisions for our participant families. We are truly grateful as are our participant families.  The flower donations also brighten the lives of so many, adding such a colorful reminder that the warmer months are ahead.  Thank you! Your generous provisions are helping so many struggling working families in need.

We are certainly grateful for the many blessings that have been showered on Bentley!  Thank you to Suzanne and Barry, Birch Community Services, our mentor organization; our generous providers, our participant families, and our region’s newspapers for writing articles about us informing our communities about our charitable organization and what we are honored and privileged to do.

Thank you to MEFC’s Abundant Harvest program for our collaboration on February 8th for a wonderful hot lunch and learn, camaraderie and our winter care package distribution event to struggling, working families in need.  Thank you to our generous providers Shop Rite of Hillsborough for your generous provisions of tote bags filled with healthy non-perishable food provisions, fresh breads and bakery and to Trader Joe’s, for your generous provisions of additional breads and bakery, produce and flowers. Thank you to Rachel, Registered Dietician at Shop Rite, for your wonderful presentation about healthy foods and nutrition.  We certainly all learned so much about food.

Thank you for your generous contributions to Bentley!  We are currently in need of the following provisions to fill our shelves for our participant families:

Healthy cereal, oatmeal, juices, coffee, tea, cooking oils, spices, crackers, rice, canned and packaged soups, canned tuna, peanut butter, jams, marinades, dressings, tomato sauces in cans or jars, crackers, gluten-free products, nuts, dried fruits, healthy snack bars, sugar, flour, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, body washes, soap, razors, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, body lotion, q-tips, baby cornstarch powder.

We certainly are grateful for your generous provisions!  Please contact us at 908-227-0684 to arrange pick up or drop off.

On Saturday, February 8, 2014, from 11:30AM – 1:30PM, once again Abundant Harvest Community Kitchen at Montgomery Evangelical Free Church will serve a free hot lunch, open to all. Bentley Community Services will also be there, distributing provisions of healthy groceries, fresh produce and basic needs products. Abundant Harvest Community Kitchen is located at Montgomery Evangelical Free Church, 246 Griggstown Road, in the Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township, one mile east of Route 206.  

These winter care packages are for working families who do not qualify for assistance but who are struggling to make ends meet. They may have incurred a job lay-off, fewer work-hours and pay reduction, an unforeseen emergency, medical expenses or a financial setback.  When the paycheck stops, the difference is measurable for these families who have difficulty meeting monthly expenses. If you are a family in this situation, please plan to attend. Regular attendees are encouraged to come and will also receive provisions.  

As an added service to all who attend, Rachel Simpers, Registered Dietitian at ShopRite in Hillsborough, will speak on healthy eating and nutrition. ShopRite, a generous provider to Bentley Community Services, is the sponsor of the event. “We certainly are grateful to ShopRite for providing special tote bags filled with healthy food provisions, for the services of their Registered Dietitian, Rachel, and to MEFC’s Abundant Harvest program for hosting us for this program and distribution event”, states Dorothy Stearns, executive director of Bentley.  

“Abundant Harvest welcomes collaborating with Bentley Community Services as we are two community programs that are both food related, yet different, providing services for residents in our communities,” says Don Sears of Abundant Harvest. “We both are striving to work for the greater good to help make a positive difference in our communities. We are so thrilled to have Rachel, the Registered Dietitian from ShopRite in Hillsborough, speaking to us about healthy eating and nutrition, something we all need to know about.”

Please plan on attending Abundant Harvest’s free lunch and enjoy a gathering of community at Montgomery Evangelical Free Church.  Also, meet Bentley Community Services and learn how they may be of help and assistance.  For more information, please contact MEFC, 908-874-4634, a[email protected] or Bentley Community Services, 908-227-0684, www.bentleycommunityservices.org. 

Beth Sears; Brant Holmes, Vice President – Operations, Bentley Community Services, Inc.; Dorothy Stearns, Executive Director – Bentley Community Services, Inc.; Don Sears, Coordinator, Abundant Harvest Community Kitchen

PHOTO Credit: Tad Woolley

The Dignity of the Exchange Video (click here)

A segment on our Mentor organization Birch Community Services, Inc.

Bentley Community Services, Inc. is a successful replication of Birch Community Services, Inc. seven months old and growing! We are focused on continuing to grow our charitable organization, each and every week, striving to make a positive difference in our communities like Birch.

Bentley Community Services, Inc. is growing and building every day providing relief every week to struggling, hardworking families in our region. They are having difficulty making ends meet due to the unstable economy, do not qualify for assistance as they make above state and federal guidelines and are formerly employed, underemployed or experiencing a financial setback due to an unforeseen emergency.

*Please Give & Support Local

*We Are Growing and Need Your Help

*If You Are Struggling, Please Contact Us For Help

*Your Generous Donation Is Tax-Deductible

With the season of thanks and giving upon us and the holiday season right around the corner, please consider giving locally with a generous monetary donation to Bentley Community Services, Inc., a designated 501 (c) 3 charitable organization. Bentley Community Services specifically addresses the new need in our communities, helping hardworking, formerly employed and underemployed families that need help due to our unstable economy that do not qualify for assistance, by providing healthy groceries, fresh produce, toiletries and more.

*We provide for over 30 working families since June 2013 in our local communities in Montgomery Township, Hillsborough and Princeton as well as throughout Somerset, Hunterdon, Middlesex and Mercer counties. We provide a community where people can be responsible and accountable for meeting their basic needs and equip them with tools to overcome financial difficulty. The money they save on these crucial staples enables them to pay their monthly bills and expenses, avoiding foreclosures and evictions.  Participant families are able to feed their children, put gas in the car and head towards financial stability and security.

*Since June, 2013 Bentley Community Services has distributed over 10 tons of food (that’s 20,000 lbs.) to participant families. We also donate our surplus to other agencies in need, feeding additional numerous families, as we do not believe in food waste.

*If you make above state and federal guidelines, do not qualify for assistance but need help due to the unstable economy, please contact us at 908-227-0684 for help and assistance.

*We are growing and building and need your help. Your generous donations will help our organization further our important work in helping and providing for struggling, hard working families in need that do not qualify for assistance in our communities.  We appreciate your confidence and support.

*$25 helps feed one participant family for one week

*$50 helps feed one participant family for two weeks

*$85 is a tank full of gas for our truck

*$100 helps feed one participant family for one month

Please make checks payable to Bentley Community Services, Inc. PO Box 1093, Belle Mead, NJ 08502 or make a safe, secure tax-deductible charitable donation in any amount by credit card directly on our website www.bentleycommunityservices.org.  Your gracious donations are tax deductible and you will receive a tax-receipt for your records. Thank you for your generous contributions!  We certainly are grateful.

THANKFUL  ~  GIVING   ~  GRATEFUL  ~  SUPPORT