LINC = Linking Initiative for Neighborhood Change
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held recently to welcome the LINC Program to New Providence. It was founded by Abigail Franco & Aidan Barth, along with high school seniors at New Providence High School.
According to LINC:
The resource pantry is located within the New Providence United Methodist Church is arguably our most impactful undertaking, yet, and it continues to grow.
The LINC Program offers food, clothes, and hygiene products to local families in need, and is run solely off of donations from local residents.
Currently we serve just under 20 families, but we will soon be supporting about 50 families soon.
We do weekly sandwich distributions, with the help of the OLP Sandwich Making Ministry, who generously donates about 100 sandwiches each week. We give them out to families with kids, along with some fresh produce or other miscellaneous goods that we receive throughout the week.
We do one full pantry distribution per month, offering about 30-40 pounds of food to each family to last them through the month, along with our collection of clothes, hygiene products, baby products, and more.
The Mission of LINC
Education
We want to spread awareness about the vast resource inequity throughout New Jersey, and how it affects a large population
Service
Using our resources, time, and efforts, we are bringing action to the local problems in the community concerning resource inequity, such as the many drives and fundraisers we host, and the opening of our resource pantry.
Connectivity
We are trying to create two networks that “link” two key aspects:
People
We bring people of all ages together, from kids to adults, promoting the message that anyone can and should get involved in their community.
We started a Community Service Club in NPHS to bring teens opportunities to volunteer constantly, and we currently have almost 100 students involved.
Resources
We are creating a network of organizations throughout New Jersey, in towns and cities like South Plainfield and Newark, to support those in need with existing projects. We don’t see a need to reinvent the wheel, but there is a need for more resources across the state. We run drives and fundraisers on behalf of other organizations in order to support them with resources and money.
How People Can Support LINC
All physical donations can be dropped off to our resource pantry located at the United Methodist Church at 1441 Springfield Ave, New Providence, NJ. Non-perishable items can be donated 24/7 to our large white shelf in the back parking lot of the church. Perishable donations can be dropped off on weekdays between 10am-1pm, so the secretary of the church can bring them in.
We accept:
- All food items, as long as they are properly sealed and within their expiration dates
- Everyday hygiene products like toothpaste and deodorant, and feminine hygiene products, as long as everything is properly sealed and within the expiration dates
- Baby products, like diapers and wipes, as long as they are properly sealed
- Most clothes, as long as they are clean and have no apparent rips or tears. We do not accept used underwear.
- We accept several forms of monetary donations:
- We have a Venmo @njlinc
- We accept checks addressed to “LINC Program”
- We accept cash in envelopes labeled “LINC” or “LINC Program”
- Cash and checks can be dropped off to the church, and put in the mailslot of the church office, located to the left of the entrance in the back parking lot
Outreach
If you are not able to donate, please consider spreading our message. Whether this means sharing/liking our posts on social media, or telling friends and family about our efforts, anything you can do to get our name out there could mean local families are getting more of the support they need.
