Local Group Gives Back With Friday Meals historic sites win grants

By Stephanie Faughnan

just 2 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. A piece of history lives inside as volunteer members gather to distribute delicious-looking dinners to anyone who enters through the door.

The meals come from area restaurants contracted

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Local Man’s Life Leads Him To Do Random Acts Of Kindness

By Stephanie Faughnan

LITTLE EGG HARBOR – A lifetime area resident, Michael Patrick Hogan is the fi rst to admit he started off life a bit rough around the edges.

Some might still fi nd the 46-year-old man to look a bit intimidating, giving credence to the old adage that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Meanwhile, the reality is that there’s nothing daunt- ing about Hogan – unless you consider any ill effects that could come from random acts of kindness.

The day before he turned 18, Hogan landed in some legal trouble. Teenage pranks could have found him behind bars. Instead, the court decided the young man would be better off somewhere else.

The New Jersey Youth Challenge Acad- emy ran a bootcamp-like program that was a novel idea at Fort Dix at that time. The six month residential quasi-military training environment turned out to be lifechanging for the young man who might have been headed down a bad path.

One of the fi rst changes came when program organizers sheered Hogan’s long locks to conform to a military

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By Alyssa Riccardi

HOWELL – The MacKenzie Museum in Howell Township was one of several historical sites in Monmouth County selected to receive preservation grants from the Monmouth County Historical Commission.

Grants and regrants were awarded to a total of 36 applicants to provide funding for different projects.

“It was an honor to present the 15 grant awards to these admirable organizations for their commitment to preserving historical structures in Monmouth County,” said Commissioner Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the Historical Commission.

“I believe the best way to honor our rich County history is through the preservation of our historical structures, and these historic preservation grants provide applicants with means to restore and rehabilitate these structures for future generations to enjoy.”

The Monmouth County Historical Commission awarded historic preservation matching grants totaling $71,215 for 15 restoration projects. Projects that are eligible for funding are preservation, restoration or rehabilitation of historic structures, which are owned by non-profit organizations or municipalities, and are accessible to the public.

Additionally, the Monmouth County Historical Commission awarded history regrants to 21 applicants totaling $48,500 through the New Jersey Historic Commission, a division of the Department of the State. Included in this is the Howell Heritage and Historical Society with the MacKenzie House.

The Mackenzie House is home to the MacKenzie Museum and Library. The last owner, Jessie MacKenzie, as one of the original incorporators

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Kindness:

Continued From Page 1 haircut. Nearly 30 years later, the Little Egg Harbor resident still maintains the same version of the buzz cut. Hogan said it’s who he became after literally learning the ropes to a changed behavior.

“The bootcamp got me into the position I’m in now,” said Hogan. “It deprogrammed me and helped me get through some of the bad times I went through as a kid.”

That’s not to say the program was an easy one even as far as dealing with the others he lived with for six months. Hogan’s attitude and look quickly earned him a “Mad dog” nickname.

“I was rough,” Hogan shared. “When I bulked up and tattooed my entire body, it was my way of putting on a suit of armor. Back then, the way I acted was actually a protective mechanism.”

Thinking back, he admitted he might have had his own sense of fear concerning his surroundings and the others sentenced to the same program.

From getting up early and making his bed, to following instructions, to taking notes, Hogan learned quite a bit about a structured environment. Some of his classmates felt so comfortable with the regimented lifestyle that they ultimately enlisted; Hogan did not. It wasn’t as if bad behavior was something tolerated in Hogan’s home as one of five siblings. His mother, Mary practiced “tough love” with her son and continues to be a huge influence in his life.

Hogan suggested he’s still a work in progress. He suffers from extreme anxiety that often interferes with his daily life. While Hogan claims he stutters and has some uncontrollable tics, none were noticeable during a two hour interview with him. However, Hogan said the stuttering led others to bully him and caused him to be timid early on. In his youth, he was a bit smaller than the other kids. Yet, when he saw others tormented, he put aside his own fears and intervened. To this day, he maintains a zero tolerance for bullying.

A little more than a year ago, Hogan felt the challenges of his anxiety reach an incredible high. A professional in the insulation industry, he was asked to help out on a job in San Antonio on short notice.

“I’d never flown on an airplane or even been outside New Jersey,” said Hogan. “I wish I’d never asked anybody about airports because when I got to Newark Airport, I was terrified.”

The ropes training from nearly three decades ago kicked in as he heard the voices of his drill instructors.

“I could hear them saying they weren’t going to steer me wrong,” Hogan shared. “They were telling me what to do and that I was not going to fall. They were with me every step of the way.”

This served to remind him that everything was going to be okay and continued as reassurances once he got to work in San Antonio.

Meanwhile, Hogan also has a preconceived notion that he comes off socially awkward. His words appear a bit contradictory considering some of the things he’s done over the years.

Although he was raised in the Catholic religion, Hogan said that he considers himself more spiritual. He doesn’t attend church but prefers to think that listening to different people talk about God gives him a better perspective.

“The biggest joy I get out of life is being of service to other people,” stressed Hogan. “It’s almost intoxicating to me.”

There was the time that he spotted an older lady on the beach who dragged some heavy bags of cat food to take care of some ferals.

“It was the middle of the summer and there were other grown men watching her struggle,” he said. “She was actually from Philadelphia and was very sick. She just came down to feed the cats.”

The woman has since died but Hogan found it incredulous that he was the only one to offer her help.

When he learned on social media that the bikes of two young boys had been stolen, he stepped in and bought them new ones. A woman who was obviously under the influence lost her keys at Walmart and Hogan strapped her into his back seat and made sure she got home safely.

“She wasn’t doing so well and a lot of people were making an effort to stay away from her,” Hogan shared. “I approached her and offered her the ride home. It didn’t matter to me that she was a hot mess.”

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Meals:

Continued From Page 1 by a hunger awareness charity called Soup Kitchen 411. However, some other incidentals are picked up along the way to help even further with the premise of “neighbors feeding neighbors.”

Menus change weekly, with last Friday’s dinners coming in from Simply Southern, a Belmar eatery. A quick peek into the prepackaged meals revealed some sausage laid over a bed of rice in sauce.

Meanwhile, those who came through the doors had the opportunity to stuff their bags with some bakery items, like sleeves of bagels, pastries, and tubs of brownies.

“We see about 25-30 people each week when we’re here,” said Elaine Taylor, who heads up this particular project for the Grange. “Whatever’s left over is distributed throughout the community.”

Taylor also offered some insight concerning the group’s mission and history. She explained that Granges were historically organized by people involved in agriculture after the Civil War.

“At that time, all the farms were devasted, so they needed a way to rebuild,” she said. “So, they organized, and it gave the farmers a place where they could have fellowship.”

According to Taylor, farmers traditionally collaborated to produce goods that could be shared with neighbors. For example, it was pretty common for one farmer to grow tomatoes, another onions, and another zucchini.

As Taylor spoke, some people wandered in and filled their bags with assorted numbers of meals in take-out containers.

A gentleman who turned out to be a regular each week exchanged greetings while another lady eagerly selected some sugary treats to bring back to her family.

“Some of the people who come here are taking care of elderly parents at home,” Taylor explained. “They may be cooking for a loved one, and this gives them a break. It also helps those who have a hard time taking care of themselves.”

Taylor’s involvement within the community was the impetus for working with Soup Kitchen 411 to distribute meals locally. As the chairwoman of Howell’s Farmers Advisory Committee, Taylor learned of Soup Kitchen’s mission from an advisory committee member working for the charity group.

Taylor herself didn’t become a farmer until she moved from suburban Oakhurst to Howell in 2000. At her Shangri La Farm on Maxim Southard Road, Taylor raises chickens for their eggs and grows organic produce.

According to the New Jersey Grange’s website, 36 states have state Grange organizations. The Southard Grange bought a turn-of-the-century two-room schoolhouse as their meeting place in 1937. The group itself began in Howell 100 years ago.

The Grange uses the red-shingled historic building for an assortment of purposes. For one, it serves as home to the Southard Grange Playhouse, which recently solic- ited playwrights for short one-act plays. Members also get together for different events and make plans to enjoy the company of neighbors.

A Thrift Store sits adjacent to the main building in a separate structure.

An Open House at the Southard Grange scheduled on April 22, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. promises food, games, and enter- tainment for those who attend. Hopes are to add to the group’s existing roster of approximately 60 members.

Those who visit will also have the chance to take a step back in time. Remnants of the old schoolhouse and an old-fashioned kitchen make for an interesting tour. Southard Grange #218 is located at 4860 Route 9 in Howell Township.

Grants:

Continued From Page 1 of the Howell Historical Society and gave her home to Howell Township in 1982 to be used as a museum and library. The newly founded Howell Heritage and Historical Society purchased the house from the township in 2020 with the goal to refurbish and reopen the MacKenzie House Museum and Library to the public.

Over the past couple of years, the Society has received grants to help with brick repointing, basement reinforcement and more. This year, they will use the funds towards fundamentals.

“This portion of the granting process is called GOS (General Operating Support). It is for use toward the basics of facility operation. Such as building insurances, electricity, phone service, fi re detection/ reporting systems (security),” Howell

Heritage & Historical Society President Robert Novak said.

Novak explained that at the moment, the organization is not certain of the exact amount granted total due to an error. However, corrections are currently in the process.

“We do not care to ‘mis-state’ what HHHS is getting, until we have actual check in hand. They should be forthcoming shortly,” Novak said. “But we are grateful for whatever the final amount is, as it will help us stretch the budget.”

“The Historical Commission is excited to award 21 applicants funding through the New Jersey Historical Commission County History Partnership Program,” Commissioner Burry said. “This program is essential to assisting Monmouth County’s cultural organizations educate residents about our history through their normal operations and special projects.”

Kindness:

Continued From Page 2

Social media posts continue to serve as a means for Hogan offering help to others. It hit him hard when he learned a young boy’s crab trap was stolen during the few minutes he put it into the water and ran home to the bathroom.

“He got it for his birthday, and it was really cool,” he said. “It was the color of the American flag, red white and blue.”

Hogan made contact with the family and not only picked up some crab traps, he also bought some fishing poles and was extra thrilled when a Walmart employee learned what he was doing and added to the pile.

As the community rallied to bring clothes and household items to victims of a fire a few years ago, Hogan decided to take a different approach.

“I knew the township was going to fill the void with clothing and things,” he explained. “I went with toys figuring it was the first thing kids would think about.”

A young man’s admission that it was his grandmother’s dying wish to see the beach also caught Hogan’s attention. Fundraising efforts he spearheaded resulted in a beach compatible wheelchair.

Some of Hogan’s good deeds have been smaller is scale but left large impacts. Despite his trepidations with social anxiety, he has approached strangers on multiple occasions with random notes of kindness and given away lottery tickets.

One time he was putting stickers on one of the notes when he spotted two women by the side of his pickup truck. He added a smiley sticker to the notes, rolled down his window and handed them to the pair and drove away. He later found out that his gift had made it into the hands of a mother and daughter who hadn’t seen one another in a long time.

“It comes down to what you put out to the universe you’ll get back,” said Hogan. “But that’s not my reason for doing things. I believe everyone deserves a different type of energy and I want to give it to them.”

“People may forget the things you say and do,” Hogan reminded. “But people will never forget the way you make them feel.”

Hogan and his wife Christina are proud parents of 15-year-old Chase. Hogan also has a 21-year-old daughter named Faith Madison from a prior relationship.