At the Westfield Rotary's sandwich drive event on September 16,2019, our community joined together to attack hunger in our community. Seventy five people came together to make sandwiches for distribution to those in need. The participants came to the assembly hall of the Presbyterian Church in Westfield armed with bread, meat, cheese and a desire to help their fellow man. Many hands joined together to produce over 1100 healthy and sandwiches. Rotarian volunteers organized the production process, supplied the necessary sanitary gloves and table coverings, joined with the community volunteers in making the sandwiches, and also collected and stored the sandwiches. The next day, Rotarians delivered the sandwiches to the community feeding programs of St.Joseph Social Service Center in Elizabeth and the Salvation Army in Plainfield.
During the event, Bernadette Murphy, Executive Director of the St.Joseph center addressed the group and thanked those present. Mensah Peterson, Dean of Students at Union County College,informed the community that while we may not think of hunger as an issue which affects higher education, in fact some of the students at UCC are in need, and that UCC operates a food bank to help fight their hunger.
Elizabeth Ensslin, President of the Rotary Club of Westfield, noted that events such as this have effects beyond the immediate help provided by the food which is gathered. "I think that everyone at the event went home with a greater awareness that hunger is a real problem in our community, and with the knowledge that they can take direct action to help. We are so thankful to the Presbyterian Church for providing their hall and for the many members of the church who joined us here tonight, along with volunteers from St. Helen's Church, Holy Trinity Church, the Kiwanis Club; Westfield High School, and families from other Westfield Schools."
Events such as this are only one component of Westfield Rotary's effort to alleviate hunger. Rotarians also operate the Backpack program which provides food for children in Westfield schools who receive federally-funded meals while in school, so that these children can take the food home to have food on weekends and holidays. Rotary's Feed Just One program during the summer substitutes for the "extra lunch" program which collects food donated by many students during the school year.
YOU are welcome to attend the next service project. Please see the Calendar of Events on this web site, or CLICK HERE to contact us.
