By MADDY VITALE
They gave food. They gave diapers. They gave canned goods. And the list goes on and on. The Ocean City community showed its generosity during an annual food and goods drive.
The Ocean City Police Department and the Ocean City Ecumenical Council Food Cupboard worked together to make the donation drive possible.
On Sunday, police vehicles were stationed in front of the Acme supermarkets at both 800 West Avenue and 3428 Simpson Avenue for the event, which is part of a nationwide program called “Faith and Blue Weekend.”
Officers Jack Davis and Doug Alcott spent the day at the Eighth Street Acme talking to shoppers who handed them bags and bags of donations. Across town, Officers Thomas Mendez-Ocampo and Josh Newman were also busy loading up a police vehicle with nonperishable items donated by shoppers at the 34th Street Acme.
Davis said that the way the donations were pouring in at both locations, he believed it was very likely that they would best their goal of 1,000 pounds of food and goods, which they set last year.
“We are definitely on a good path to beating last year’s goal,” Davis said with a smile.
Faith and Blue is an organization with a goal to connect law enforcement agencies and local faith-based communities. The event is aimed at helping stock the food cupboard for the upcoming holiday season.
Last year during the first of now two years of a successful food and goods drive, the Ocean City police joined with the Ecumenical Council. The Council runs the food and clothing cupboards and the items are shared by all churches in Ocean City to help those in need, according to police.
It is a partnership that appears to be working.
Lucille Worley, of the Ecumenical Council, spoke with Davis and Alcott outside of the Acme at Eighth Street.
She thanked them for doing their part for the donation drive.
“They are always so supportive of us,” she noted of the police department. “They do so much. We have received so many donations.”
This year, the food cupboard specifically asked for diaper donations, paper products and wet wipes, personal hygiene products and other items that aren’t traditionally covered under the food benefits for those in need.
And they certainly got a lot of what they asked for to help families in the community.
Davis and Alcott displayed some of the bags filled to the brim with donations, many of them diapers and baby needs.
Shoppers hurried in and out of the Eighth Street Acme, but they did not ignore the donation drive by any means. In fact, officers at both Acme locations ended the day with police vehicles filled with donations from generous shoppers, they said.
Many shoppers came out to chat with the officers and hand-deliver some of their donations.
Diapers, pastas and pasta sauces, cereals and macaroni and cheese were among the many donations Sunday.
Maureen Arasz, of Ocean City, walked over to the officers at Eighth Street, hefting a bag filled with food.
“I gave them a dozen canned goods,” Arasz said. “It’s a great community and a great cause. The officers are helping out our community.”
Paula North, of Ocean City, stopped by just long enough to say hello and drop off a box of cereal.
Clark Hindelang, another Ocean City resident, walked over to the officers at Eighth Street with a bag of diapers.
One man who didn’t wish to give his name rushed over and dropped off a four-can pack of soup, saying to the officer that he saw it and thought it would be the perfect size for donating.
Davis and Alcott said they enjoyed spending time in the community working for an important cause.
“It’s nice to be a part of an event like this,” Alcott said. “It’s great to be out in the community and to be able to give back.”
Each year the Ecumenical Council Food Cupboard provides food and supplies to more than 2,400 people. The food cupboard is located downstairs of the St. Peter’s United Methodist Church at 501 E. Eighth Street in Ocean City.
For more information visit https://ocecnj.org/
