Zach Cooper (left to right), Karen Sapio, Jeff Sanders and Lynn Bradford display some of the fresh produce and other products available to struggling families on a mobile bus sponsored by St. John of God.
Thanks to fresh produce donations from two farms in Mullica Hill and Swedesboro and bread from Pisker’s Bakery in Westville, South Jersey families struggling to feed their children nutritious meals have a helping hand.
“These farm markets generously donate their fresh fruit and produce to our mission, as well as Pisker’s Bakery here in Westville, which donates rolls and other goods on a weekly basis,” said Jeff Sanders, chief development officer at St. John of God Community Services.
“This is the heart of our mission, to feed the hungry and assist anyone with challenges,” noted St. John of God Brother Tom Osorio as he stood in a bus that has served as a mobile pantry since 2022.
“This enables us to go out into the community and meet the people where they are,” added Brother Osorio, who noted that the bus is set up like a supermarket aisle. “People can feel that they are not just getting a handout. They can come in and take what they want.”
Nutritious produce on the left side of the bus includes tomatoes, apples, eggplant, bananas, peaches, blueberries and corn on the cob, all donated by Murphy’s Farm Market in Swedesboro and Sorbello Girls Farm Market and Grasso Girls Farm Market, both in Mullica Hill.
Canned goods including soup, tomato paste and beets are on the top shelves and the back right of the bus features the fresh rolls and other baked goods from Pisker’s. Hygiene products for men and women are lined up on the way out.
“We gutted the bus and wanted it to look like going into a Wegmans,” explained Sanders, who added that the vehicle travels to towns in Gloucester County and South Jersey where farm fresh produce is rarely available. “It lets people retain their sense of dignity and pride.”
On some days, the pantry bus is parked outside of St. John of God’s facility on Delsea Drive in Westville so a “few nonprofits in the region, and their clientele, can come by and partake of fresh fruit and produce, personal care items and bagged staples like tuna, pasta and peanut butter, all at no cost to them,” Sanders said.
“We do a little bit of everything,” observed Lynn Bradford, hospitality coordinator for St. John of God. “It’s quite a process. All the produce arrives the day before when the driver picks it up from the farms. We bag it all up and get it ready.”
“We’re very happy with the bus,” echoed Karen Sapio, the church’s pastoral care coordinator, who travels with Bradford and other staff members to Glassboro, Clarksboro and other local towns. “It looks fantastic. It allows us to get out to the communities and feed the people.”
“We are doing the work of the Holy Spirit,” said Brother Osorio, who was professed in 1997 to the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God and immediately assigned to the Westville campus.
The order was founded by Joao Duarte Cidade, a Portuguese soldier turned health-care worker who lived from 1495 to 1550. His followers later formed the Hospitallers of Saint John of God, a Catholic religious organization focused on taking care of the poor, the sick and those with mental disorders.
In 1690, Cidade was canonized as St. John of God by Pope Alexander VIII and eventually became known as the patron saint of hospitals and the sick.
The Hospitaller Order continues to minister to those in need around the world, with the St John of God mobile food pantry supporting that mission. For information about St. John of God programs, go to www.sjogcs.org.
