Dear Editor:
Each year, F.A.I.T.H. Services conducts a consumer satisfactory survey with the agency’s clients to learn how we are doing, how we can improve service and what unmet needs clients have. Residents of Hudson County will not be surprised that affordable housing always makes the top of the list. Residents of the county might be surprised, as we were, that food was number two on the list this year.
The continued success of the combination medicine therapies has caused nearly a 70 percent decrease in the death rate of those with HIV/AIDS. On the other hand, service providers’ caseloads are growing as well as the needs of those in care. The HIV/AIDS epidemic in our county continues to grow, as does the epidemic worldwide.
We are very grateful to the employees of the various Bon Secours New Jersey Health Systems departments of St. Mary Hospital in Hoboken and St. Francis Hospital in Jersey City for their annual Thanksgiving food drive which benefits clients of our agency and other agencies. Local groceries donated 100 turkeys: A&P gave 100 and C-Town and Big Banner each gave 50. Haven Savings in Hoboken provided beautifully wrapped baskets of complete Thanksgiving dinners. Outside the county, students of Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, collected 110 turkeys and 160 bags of groceries for us to distribute. Hoffman Allied Van Lines delivered the students donations to our doorstep through the courtesy of one of their driver’s Justo Arias.
Clients of F.A.I.T.H., W.I.S.E. and Jersey City Medical Center enjoyed a special Thanksgiving meal that otherwise would not have happened without the generosity of the many people mentioned above.
Brother Robert J. Reinke, C.F.P.
Administrator of F.A.I.T.H. Services