BENTLEY COMMUNITY SERVICES
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Mission Statement
Dedicated to providing support and encouragement in a culture and environment of accountability and self-help to place families on the path to financial stability and security. We facilitate healthy diets and nutrition by creating access to and providing healthy foods and other products for struggling families, individuals and seniors in financial crisis in food-insecure households that are unable to or do not qualify for traditional assistance. BCS does this by providing goods and services that facilitate families' capacity to both save, and make better use of, scarce financial resources. This is accomplished first by: (a) distribution of a wide range of healthy, nutritious food provisions, toiletries and household products each week (b) offering instruction to inform, educate, increase skills and to move families forward through free workshops, facilitated by professionals held throughout the year and (c) by providing an environment of community, volunteerism, accountability and empowering them with the tools to overcome financial difficulty.
About This Cause
Bentley Community Services, a designated 501 (c) 3 charitable organization, specifically addresses the needs of struggling, working families, seniors and individuals in need. Bentley (BCS) creates access to healthy foods, facilitating healthy diets for participants in financial crisis, offsetting weekly grocery and basic needs bills that places families on the fast track to regaining self-sufficiency. Based in Montgomery Township, NJ, BCS's distribution warehouse facility is at 4064 Route 1 North in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey. With numerous job lay-offs, individuals working fewer hours and earning less pay, the higher costs of living and groceries, diminishing healthcare, an unforeseen emergency or medical expenses, inflation and purchase of gasoline, so many working families are struggling. Many families cut back on food and basic needs in order to afford their monthly bills and expenses. By Bentley Community Services providing a full cart weekly of healthy groceries, fresh vegetables and fruits, non-perishables, basic needs, toiletries, household products, adult education and resources, the money they save on these crucial staples enables BCS families to pursue goals that move them away from the bankruptcies, evictions and foreclosures that threaten them, and on to financial stability. They are able to pay their monthly bills and expenses, pay down debt and feed their families healthy, well-balanced nutritious and healthy foods. BCS empowers participants through accountability and setting of goals, fostering their desire and capacity to give back through volunteerism in an environment of community. Typical outcomes for families of BCS’ program include decreasing/eliminating consumer debt, catching up with mortgage or car payments, improving one’s credit score, meeting medical bills, paying toward student loans, or for vocational training or tuition for college (which, research shows, is the most effective way out of poverty). Bentley even helps municipalities by helping keep taxpaying families in their residences. BCS welcomes those who need a “hand up” rather than a “hand out” and have the will to change their circumstances, by meeting their immediate needs while helping them to work towards restoring self-sufficiency. BCS provides support and encouragement in a culture and environment of accountability and self-help to place families on the path to financial stability and security. We are an all-volunteer charitable organization and have no geographic borders. Families in the Bentley program are from the Central New Jersey region and come from numerous counties, including Union, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Hunterdon and Somerset counties. They pick up weekly provisions at the warehouse distribution facility and receive full carts of high quality foods. Conventional food agencies distribute food provisions once or twice per month which is typically two bags of non-perishables to their clientele. Participant families receive weekly healthy and fresh foods and more, valued at over $300 each week where they are able to prepare three meals each day and more for their families. By shopping weekly as we offset grocery bills each week, Bentley places these families on the fast track to regaining self-sufficiency. Full shopping carts filled with high quality foods benefit the entire family. BCS is not a conventional food pantry. There are several key elements which make us unique and different: • Participant centered: From its beginning, BCS focuses on the needs of its target group of working poor families, most who are affected by lay-offs, underemployment, unemployment, medical expenses, high debt or an unforeseen financial crisis. • A theory of change based on accountability and the power of human dignity: At its core, BCS’s unique model of service delivery believes that true charity comes from empowering each individual to restore his or her capacity to be self-sufficient, and that the most effective way to accomplish this process is within the context of a community in which individuals are participants working together to attain their goals. • Participants self-state their goals and we help them achieve their goals by offering adult education classes. We hold workshops such as healthy eating habits and nutrition; work, life and time management; updating computer skills; financial literacy; certification in CPR/HeartsaverAED/Lifesaving Techniques; home improvement and stress management to help participants move forward. • Efficient redistribution of market surplus: What local producers of food and other staples consider as “excess inventory” is also the means for needy families to put meals on their tables and other household goods (toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc.) in their cupboard. BCS is the vital connection diverting those products that would otherwise be added to landfills, to the homes of people who can use them. • Our warehouse distribution facility provides access to healthy foods that promote healthy eating choices for food insecure households. Proteins such as beef, chicken, turkeys, smoked meats and cold cuts; dairy such as fresh milk, butter, cottage cheese, yogurts, eggs and juices; fresh salads, vegetables and fruits; numerous non-perishables; high quality baked goods and breads and even fresh soups from area restaurants. Also, we provide personal needs products such as shampoo, soap, vitamins, deodorant, toothpaste, razors and more. • With the money participants save on these crucial staples, BCS families are able to pursue goals that move them away from the bankruptcies, evictions and foreclosures that threaten them, and on to financial stability. BCS empowers participants through accountability and setting of goals, fostering their capacity to give back through volunteerism in an environment of community. • Each participant tracks their forward progress as they follow a prepared workable budget for their households. They also prepare Bentley Progress Reports that are due June 1 and December 1 each year where their results, measurements and outcomes are reported as we work along with them to attain their self-stated goals. • A corporate culture founded on principles of compassion, stewardship and integrity. We provide a means for families to get help but they also participate in their desire to give back which fosters a sense of accountability and responsibility that places value on the program. The Bentley program is a sustainable program, as we practice financial and food sustainability. It is an all-volunteer charitable organization. Participants provide several hours of community service on a rotation basis, giving their time and expertise helping in the warehouse distribution facility by breaking down, sorting, shelving, packing and cleaning the very provisions they receive and other assorted work. Participant families are the volunteers at our food drives and are the helping hands on scheduled farm workdays at our generous provider farms where Bentley receives farm fresh produce. Participants take pride in knowing that they are helping the other families in the program as well as their own as we serve one another. In 2022, Bentley Community Services: • Distributed 381,700,000 lbs. of food provisions as of December 31, 2022 for the year, filling, 3,456 shopping carts. • Bentley distributions enabled families to prepare three meals per day and more for their families. • Providing foods for over 500 individuals each week, families in our program received over $16,400 worth of provisions last year. This value, added to the family’s budget is used to help accomplish their self-stated goals. • To date, we have graduated 157 families since August, 2013 out of the Bentley program who have attained financial stability and security, no longer in need of our services. Bentley is in its 10th year of operation. • We were able to help our participant families take significant steps toward fulfilling their goal to overcome financial difficulty. Through practicing responsibility in the context of accountability, each family identifies and regularly reviews progress toward their goals. • Two financial workshops for new participant families. • Families participated in a truly amazing Krav Maga self-defense workshop hosted by Princeton Fitness & Wellness, with Master Arkady facilitating. • Families participated in a Health & Wellness Workshop facilitated by Dr. Terri Lynch. This was terrific! • Donated and re-distributed when we had surplus foods to Mercer Street Friends; Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, Elijah's Promise and weekly to Princeton Cornerstone Community Kitchen at Princeton United Methodist Church helping to provide healthy and nutritious foods to their vulnerable clientele. • Employee volunteer work teams from Bloomberg (every Tuesday/Wednesday), Bristol-Myers Squibb, local Rotary groups, Novo Nordisk, Robert Wood Johnson/Barnabas Health, Johnson & Johnson, various civic organizations, groups and clubs, and student groups from area high schools and scheduled community volunteers all year. It is truly an honor and privilege to serve our neighbors in need.