Temple Beth Ahm in Aberdeen collected more than 300 bags of nonperishable groceries and household items for the community food bank at the Matawan United Methodist Church as part of the temple's annual Corners of the Field project.

The project was coordinated by the Conservative synagogue's social action committee, according to Janet Kaplan, who chairs the committee with Diane Kaplan (no relation) and Hester Skolnick, all of Parlin. More than 20 temple volunteers helped bring the project to fruition, Janet Kaplan said.

Planning for this year's project, which Beth Ahm has conducted for the past decade, began in September. When congregants arrived at the temple for Rosh Hashana services, they found grocery bags donated by ShopRite of Aberdeen placed on every seat in the sanctuary. A list of needed items — among them disposable diapers, juice, pancake mix and syrup, breakfast bars, lunch snacks, shampoo, and soap — had been stapled to each bag. Temple members were asked to fill the bags and return them when they came to Kol Nidrei services on Sept. 21.

Congregants returned 305 bags filled with groceries and other items, Kaplan said. As they drove into the temple parking lot, committee members and other temple volunteers collected the bags and carried them into the building, where they were to be prepared for transport to the food bank.

Church member Robert Muller, of John J. Muller Plumbing and Heating in Matawan, also was on hand to help. After the donated items were gathered, Muller helped the temple volunteers load the groceries onto his truck and drove it to the food bank. Upon his arrival, a crew of church volunteers was waiting to unload the bags and restock the pantry, Kaplan said.

"We tried to put this project together in a very organized way," Kaplan told NJ Jewish News. "I think our approach worked out very well."

Kaplan said she met with food bank representatives before the holidays to learn what items were in short supply and which were not needed and to devise a smooth collection, drop-off, and delivery effort. She and social action committee members then made up the "shopping lists" based on the meeting's outcome.

"We wanted to get it right, and the people at the church's food bank helped us make that happen," Kaplan said. "We conferred with them to find out what they needed."

The project name is derived from Leviticus 19:9-10, which commands farmers to reap "to the very corners of your field" and leave the remainder for the poor and stranger.

The entire project was a tribute to how well members of the two houses of worship worked together, said Kaplan.

"Different synagogues and churches can accomplish so much if they are willing to communicate and reach out," she said. "The members of United Methodist were so easy to work with, and they were very appreciative of what we wanted to do. Many of their food bank clients are the members of society who are referred to as the ‘working poor.' We were reminded that there are serious needs that must be met right here in Monmouth County."