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Anderson House is a halfway house for women recovering from alcohol and drug dependency. The BPC Explorers make teddy bears for the clients.

Giving Tree When: Christmas Season

The Giving Tree program is a combination of prison ministry and outreach to local families.

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church sponsors wishes from children of jail inmates at Christmastime. The main idea is to shop for and wrap Christmas gifts for the children of prisoners to make sure the children don’t go without Christmas.

The wishes are written on angels, which hang from a tree in the Church, and lists the child’s age, gender, clothing size, and what the child is asking for. Members and friends are encouraged to purchase an item of clothing and something to fulfill the wish, wrap these gifts, and leave them beneath the tree. Volunteers deliver the gifts to the children’s homes a few days before Christmas.

When children’s parents are in prison, they need someone to look up to, to lean on, and to love.

The Elizabethport Presbyterian Center acts as an agency of the Presbytery of Elizabeth, in Elizabethport, an historic urban area with disproportionate socio-economic problems, in the city of Elizabeth. The Center's focus is to strengthen families, work for relief of poverty, promote justice, remove discrimination, provide opportunity for people to develop skills to maintain themselves through gainful employment, and share the Christian teachings. The Center's approach is to build on the resource found locally in individuals, families and other groups in the community to increase their ability to deal constructively with their concerns and needs, thereby strengthening both themselves and the community as a whole.

Each year during the Easter season, Bethlehem Presbyterian Church accepts donations for Elizabethport. Additionally, items such as coats, baby clothes, etc. are collected at various times of the year by other groups in the Church for donation to the Center.

Grow-A-Row Garden A Summer Mission Project

Interfaith Hospitality Network of Hunterdon County When:   Rotational basis with other churches in the area

The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Hunterdon County is a non-profit organization of congregations that minister to the needs of homeless women and families. IHN provides shelter, sustenance, and support in caring settings while assisting its guests in resolving their homelessness. The Network respects the guests’ dignity and strives to enhance their self-sufficiency. In its efforts to break the cycle of homelessness, IHN advocates for heightened public awareness, greater community involvement, and increased county-wide service involvement. Bethlehem Presbyterian Church is a charter member of Hunterdon County’s branch of this national program and it is our most effective hands-on local mission project. Guests are at the church for one week at a time, staying in the Christian Education Building which is “set-up” like a home. We are a host church 5 to 6 times per year. Additionally, each year during the Advent Season, the Church collects offerings in support of the program.

NORWESCAP Food Bank When:   Saturday trips approximately once per quarter

NORWESCAP is a not-for-profit community action program which provides cost-effective, coordinated services to low-income people in Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Passaic, and Warren Counties. Their goal is to build self-esteem, encouraging people to achieve all that they are capable of and ultimately improving their self-sufficiency.

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church has worked Saturday morning shifts cleaning, sorting, and storing boxes of canned goods to be delivered to local food banks. Additionally, during various times of the year, the Church has donated food items for distribution by NORWESCAP to those in need.

Open Cupboard Food Pantry An Ongoing Mission Project

The Open Cupboard Food Pantry in High Bridge, New Jersey is a private non-profit agency serving northern Hunterdon County. Everyone who works at the pantry is a volunteer. The Pantry believes it has a responsibility to fill the very basic need for food for those in need. They distribute USDA commodities and private donations such as food, cleaning, and personal products. They also purchase meat, dairy, fish, produce, and other items from monetary donations. As well as providing food, the Pantry offers calls to shut-ins and clients without transportation to see what they need.

The Pantry relies on donations from individuals and organizations to keep the program operational. Bethlehem Presbyterian Church not only contributes monetarily to this program but also donates food items during the holidays.

Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity An Ongoing Mission Project

Serving Somerset and Hunterdon counties, Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity (RVHFH) is a non-profit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry committed to building decent, affordable housing for hardworking, low-income families.

Houses are built via a cooperative, volunteer effort. RVHFH volunteers find the site, raise the funds, and select a family for each new home. Then, the selected family works side by side with RVHFH and community volunteers on the construction of their new home. The family purchases the home upon completion with the help of a zero-interest mortgage provided by Habitat. Once they purchase the house, they are responsible for home maintenance and for monthly payments of principal, taxes, insurance and utilities. Mortgage payments are recycled to fund the construction of more houses. To insure the continued availability of affordable housing in the community, the deeds to the properties are restricted.

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church supports this local mission project in a number of ways including donations, assisting with fund-raising events, and home construction.