Neighborhood Connections to Health Announces a New Intergenerational Community Council and Second Mobile Food Pantry Site for Freehold Borough
More than one hundred people filled the Freehold Borough YMCA at Neighborhood Connections to Health’s (NCTH) coalition meeting in December, including Borough residents, Park Avenue Middle School students and community partners. We would like to thank the Freehold Borough High School Culinary Program and YMCA Director of Community Outreach Jo Ann Rountree for their support of this event.
During the coalition meeting, we were pleased to announce an additional location of our Mobile Food Pantry. We have had such a great reception at our Park Avenue Health Center location, we are adding a second site at the St. Rose of Lima Church. We are committed to providing fresh food to our community and value our partnership with Fulfill to do this work.
To bring seniors and students together in Freehold Borough, NCTH is collaborating with the school district to create the Freehold Intergenerational Community Council. We thank Rocco Tomazic, Superintendent of the Freehold Borough School District, for his partnership in this effort.
The NCTH partners look forward to building on our work in the new year through these initiatives. As community members share their stories with us, we know our efforts are making an impact.
“I just want you to know how thankful I am for all the hard work and help you provide to those of us residing in the Freehold Borough,” says Ms. Marina, a Borough resident. We gave Ms. Marina a lead testing kit during one of our outreach programs. Based on the results from the kit, she scheduled an in-home lead assessment. We indeed found lead in her home and began the remediation process.
In addition, Ms. Marina regularly visits our Mobile Food Pantry and shows her appreciation by bringing us homemade treats. We invited Ms. Marina to become a coalition partner and she now attends our quarterly meetings. She also supports and advances NCTH’s work by volunteering at our events and inviting her friends to come and participate in all of our activities. By engaging community members in every aspect of our work, we will make our Borough healthier for everyone.