Christ Church in Suffern, NY, houses a busy food mission that serves the community.
Many people in the area pass quietly by Christ Church in Suffern, which is set back on Washington Avenue, across from Sacred Heart Church, with the Suffern Police Station just a stone’s throw down the road.
Parents pass it daily on their way to one of the many activities at the YMCA down the street. Christ Episcopal Church goes about its business of community service through its popular thrift store that sprawls with interesting finds throughout the education building as well as an important volunteer food ministry that, according to volunteer director Ann Jerema, served some 17,000 hot meals last year.
The pantry and food kitchen regularly helps 48 households a month, from “Suffern all the way to Monsey,” according to Jerema.
For the last several years, Christ Church received $2,000 in non-profit assistance funds from the Town of Ramapo. In 2014, the food program was zero funded by the town. Even a small company called Dog On Safe, Inc., which does something related to processing information about the prevention of dog bites, was slated to receive $3000 from Ramapo in 2014 — while Hi-Tor Animal Care Center was zero funded by the town.
Town of Ramapo Not For Profit Resolution for 2014.
The Sloatsburg Senior Center received $1,500 in funding.
Reporter Akiko Matsuda has written an eye-opening article, published March 10 in The Journal News, about where Ramapo’s approximately $392,500 Not For Profit Agencies funding goes. Matsuda’s article relied on information from Preserve Ramapo and the Freedom of Information Act and paints an incredibly lopsided picture of the Town of Ramapo’s, where $309,000 of the non-profit funds “have been allocated to organizations based in the hamlet of Monsey or the villages of New Square and Kaser, communities that are heavily populated by ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.”
Matsuda reported that nearly 25% of the town’s giving budget went to an organization in the tiny Village of Kaser called Rockland Opportunity Development Association (RODA), which received a total of $105,000 — $55,000 for senior service and and $50,000 for youth services. LoHud reported it was unable to reach Israel Neiman, president of RODA. The organization apparently lists a PO Box as the non-profit’s address.
The Village of Kaser is approximately 128 acres in size, with a population of 5000. In comparison, Suffern is 2 square miles, with a population of 10,000 people. With approximately 640 acres to one square mile, land wise, Suffern is ten times the size of Kaser and has twice the population.
Preserve Ramapo has an interesting graphical breakdown of the Town of Ramapo’s giving patterns, with arch observations on possible reasons for the giving patterns.
Meanwhile, Suffern and the surrounding community showed its appreciation for the Christ Church community programs during the 90th celebration for the Lafayette Theatre, where $800 was raised for the organization.
