Heard A.M.E. Church, under the dedicated and dynamic leadership of Rev. Theodore R. Goyins, has gained prominence as "the friendly church by the brook" with a vital and viable outreach ministry. Among the various community services provided by the church is the traditional distribution of Thanksgiving baskets to the needy. Thanksgiving of 1982 marked a turning point in tradition in that requests from needy families had far exceeded record numbers. Most recipients of Thanksgiving baskets returned a month later in dire need of Christmas baskets.

Subsequently, the impact of inflation and high unemployment in the county was tremendously felt by many residents; resulting in their outreach to the church for assistance. Parishioners were asked to bring non-perishable groceries to the church for distribution to the needy. Pastor Goyins obtained donations of shopping carts from the local supermarkets. During Sunday worship services ushers pushed the carts down aisles of the sanctuary and the congregation placed their offering of food into the carts. Many memebers and friends contributed.

It became apparent to Pastor Goyins that hunger in our county is a problem and there is an ongoing need for food. With the help of "The Men of Heard", he converted two church school rooms on the lower level of the church. One room was designated for storage and the other for distribution of stock. Permanent shelving was installed, much like the mom and pop community food stores. Six parishioners volunteered to distribute the food. An application form was devised to help determine eligibility of applicants. Food lists were devised for recording items given to each recipient and to maintain accurate inventory.

Thus, "The Heard A.M.E. Church Food Store was born on March 19, 1983." The opening was the fulfillment of the vision of Pastor Goyins and the dream he inspired in the Heard A.M.E. Church Family. The church owned a refrigerator and a freezer, but additional freezer space was now needed. The volunteers held fund raisers and were soon able to purchase a freezer. We now own 2 chest freezers, 2 commercial upright freezers and 1 refrigerator. After the first year in operation, due to the growing need for family assistance, we had to do even more. Pastor Goyins reached out to the County of Union and assistance was provided for five (5) families weekly. The Food Store also received one quarter of the receipts from the Crop Walk for Hunger. In 1988 a van was purchased with combined contributions from the County of Union and individuals.

The Food Store was created as a source of relief to families in Union County who are in need of assistance due to emergency situations. The criteria for assistance had to be developed, so that those with the greatest need would receive assistance. Guidelines were set as follows:

The Food Store hours are Saturdays 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. Absolutely no applications are accepted after 11:30 A.M. In emergency situations the store personnel is available by appointment Monday - Friday.

From its inception the Food Store has been staffed by volunteers. We now operate with a staff of 63 volunteers engaged in various phases of The Food Store operations. The organizational structure consists of:

Regularly scheduled monthly meetings of all food store volunteers provide a great time to share new ideas and improve services.

This phase of our outreach ministry does not end with the Food Store. Heard A.M.E. Church is one of nine member churches which are part of the Inter-faith Council Hospitality Network. When the homeless are hosted by the Roselle United Methodist Church, some groceries are supplied by The Heard A.M.E. Church Food Store. Many of our food store volunteers also volunteer to feed the homeless.

It is through dedicated support from parishioners, friends and organizations, in the spirit of "Caring and Sharing" that The Heard A.M.E. Church Food Store continues to be a blessing to those in need. We presently serve approximately 30 families per week.