Girl Scouts Offer Freehold-Area Homeless Dinner, Encouragement

FREEHOLD, NJ — Girl Scout Troop 6045, part of Girls Scouts of the Jersey Shore Council, recently hosted a community dinner for the unhoused and the hungry at St. Peter’s Church in Freehold, under the auspices of the Emergency Housing & Advocacy Program.

And the experience was a good one for both the guests and the Girl Scouts, said Nina Rizzo, director of operations fort EHAP, based in Freehold.

Several of the Girl Scouts acknowledged they are unfamiliar with the plight of those experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, she said.

“I really don’t understand homelessness and poverty,” Molly, 12, said, "but I do understand people are struggling.”

Molly added that she knows people need food, “but they also need encouragement. I want to tell them they mean something, even if they don’t think it.”

Aayana, 12, said she came because she wanted to help people in need. “I’m not sure what I expected to see,” she said as she surveyed the room. “I guess I’m surprised at how many people are here."

At least 30 adults, mostly senior citizens, enjoyed the free dinner.

Lisa Korman, leader of the Manalapan-based troop, said six of her eight Scouts, along with their parents and siblings, prepared and served the supper.

Korman is a member of Temple Shaari Emeth in Manalapan. The temple was scheduled to host the dinner last week, said Rizzo.

And it was a tasty offering of short ribs, vegetarian chili, mac and cheese, salad, vegetables, corn muffins, and, of course, coffee and dessert.

Michael Holzer, a trustee for both EHAP and the temple, helped create the dinner program with fellow EHAP trustee Harry Domke of the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine of Freehold Township and EHAP’s executive director, Joan Mandel.

EHAP began hosting the Tuesday night dinners in January as a way to stay connected to homeless and vulnerable residents who may not know about EHAP’s stabilization services, said Rizzo.

The Community Dinners Program is an offshoot of EHAP’s Winter Overnight Program, which housed homeless men on a nightly rotation at participating houses of worship in western
Monmouth County from December through March for 19 years.

The program paused this season due to lack of funding.

In an effort to stay engaged with this population, the participating congregations teamed up with St. Peter’s, an ardent supporter of the overnight program and host of other community feeding programs, to offer the Tuesday night dinners.