New Jersey Spirituality in Action

Friendship Corner: Food Backpacks

Members gather at Christ the King Church, New Vernon, once a month to fill 240 backpacks of non-perishable food items for three-to-five-year-old youngsters. The bags are then transported to a daycare center, LaVida 3, in Paterson where they are distributed to the children at the end of the month when family food stamp benefits may run out and supplemental nutrition is required.

New Jersey Malta Mobile Van

The New Jersey Area’s Malta Mobile Van has several runs a week to serve the needy throughout the state.  Typical uses are: hosting vaccine clinics; delivering food to community food banks; and transferring medical supplies to medical centers for the poor and homeless

Prison Ministry — Morris County Jail

Seven members of the Order, two Chaplains, and volunteers visit weekly at the Morris County Correctional Facility to celebrate Holy Mass  and supply them with Catholic literature, including English and Spanish language Order of Malta Bibles and prayer books and spiritual literature. Our Chaplains hear confessions and visit individual inmates who cannot attend Mass. This year we have added a men’s and a women’s Bible Study. The New Jersey Area has partnered with Walking With Purpose TM, which provides its study books for the women. The Order of Malta also supplies English and Spanish language Order of Malta Bibles and prayer books to twenty jails and prisons throughout New Jersey.

Flu Immunization Ministry

For the past four years, Knights, Dames, and family members of the New Jersey Area have assisted with the distribution of flu vaccines to members of the uninsured population of Newark, New Jersey. What initially started as an emergency effort to help distribute COVID-19 shots during the early days of the pandemic has grown into an official collaborative ministry between the St. John’s Health Clinic, the Order of Malta New Jersey Area, and Malteser International Americas. It is worth noting that this collaborative effort was the first initiative of Malteser International in the United States. 

Sunday Dinner at The Center in Asbury Park

Members prepare and serve dinners for the clients at the aids center in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Under the direction of Father Bob Kaeding, who is the founder and executive director, a special dinner is prepared by the volunteers and served on the third Sunday of each month.

Food Packs to Go

Food Packs to Go is a new work for the Trenton Diocese for children living in transitional housing. Volunteers meet on the last Thursday of each month to assemble and deliver food packs to Linkages, a Catholic Charities work in Tinton Falls, NJ.

Order of Malta ID Program

The New Jersey Area has been assisting the poor and indigent in the Newark, NJ area to obtain government issued identification cards. Many of the poor and indigent have either lost their driver’s license or other method of identification, or in many cases the identification is stolen. In addition, immigrants to the United States need assistance in navigating obtaining government-issued identification. This ministry started many years ago under the direction of Fra Richard Wolff by assisting to obtain Essex County identification cards so that persons could at least have identification to apply for a job. The program has been expanded to coordinate obtaining non-drivers identification cards from the State of New Jersey. Every third Saturday, usually 2-3 members of the Order gather at Mercy House, which is a local assistance center operating under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Newark that provides non-perishable food, clothing, baby essentials, furniture, and aid in job and housing searches. Those needing IDs are advised to come to Mercy House on the third Saturday of the month with the documentation that they may have, and members of the Order assist in helping reviewing their papers in order to apply for a non-drivers ID, and set up appointments with the Motor Vehicle Commission office so that they can attend. In many cases the poor and indigent are given direction to obtain the necessary documentation to allow that person obtain an ID. In some cases, members of the Order have assisted those who need an official birth certificate, or an official marriage record. Over the course of many years, the Order has assisted countless numbers of local residents to obtain proper identification.

Discovery House

The Discovery House is a spiritual center for families of children with special needs, the chronically ill,  inner city children and adjudicated youth. Members of the New Jersey Are provide a variety of services and spiritual support to those in the Discovery House.

Defense of the Faith and Spirituality