The Helping Hand Food Pantry is a cooperative ministry of the Hillsdale Christian Churches united in the name of Jesus Christ, and supported by other volunteers in the community who join their hearts, hands, time, energy, and resources to provide food for those in need. We collect food for the pantry on a weekly basis at our Saturday and Sunday worship services, and our parishioners also often volunteer their time working at the pantry. The address of the Helping Hand Food Pantry is:

349 Hillsdale Ave

Hillsdale, NJ 07642

Mentoring Moms is a program that trains and supervises volunteers to serve as mentors to overwhelmed mothers dealing with the challenges of life while raising a family. Mentors provide a caring, supportive outlet for the mothers as they try to make good life decisions for themselves and their families. Each year, Holy Trinity parishioners purchase gifts to donate to families in the Mentoring Moms program to be given out at their Holiday Party. The first North Porch center was incorporated in 1984 in Newark, New Jersey, by the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Newark. The organization had its roots in a ministry established in 1978 by The Venerable Martha Blacklock of the Newark Episcopal Cooperative for Mission and Ministry.

North Porch Women & Infants’ Centers is a 501C3 non-profit organization that provides emergency aid, in the form of baby supplies, to mothers and infants in northern New Jersey, to help them stabilize and improve the quality of their lives the first North Porch center was incorporated in 1984 in Newark, New Jersey, by the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Newark. The organization had its roots in a ministry established in 1978 by The Venerable Martha Blacklock of the Newark Episcopal Cooperative for Mission and Ministry. North Porch has centers in Newark, Paterson, and Dover as well as a satellite center in Hackettstown. We are governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees. Our Centers are staffed by part-time Center Coordinators and a part-time Program Director. Our clients are referred to us by social service agencies and religious organizations. They are able to visit up to four times a year and at each visit receive one week’s supply of diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, and toiletries.

A part of Holy Trinity’s Outreach is taking part in a program called the “Walk-In-Dinner”, which is a ministry of Family Promise of Bergen County. We share this program with Grace Episcopal Church in Westwood, which introduced it to us about two years ago. Participation in the dinner involves helping to prepare a full-course meal, transporting it to Hackensack, and helping to serve the meal at the Shelter in Hackensack. We participate on a bi-monthly basis on the first Thursday of odd-numbered months.

A month or so in advance, the dinner coordinator will send out an email detailing the list of needed food and non-food items. Those interested select what they want to contribute, for example, meat sauce and pasta for the main course, lettuce for the salad, rolls, dessert and/or non-food items, paper plates, or utensils. Parishioners can also volunteer to drive the vans from Grace Episcopal Church, with the food, down to Hackensack and serve the meals to those individuals. There is usually a request for between 150 and 180 meals, as the need to help people with food insecurity is great. If you are interested or have any questions about the Walk-In-Dinner program, please feel free to contact Susan Hayashida, the HTC Outreach Coordinator, at mrshayashida@gmail.com.