We believe that as His disciples we need to LEAD through humble servanthood, by being on mission with God to be a LIGHT shining in the darkness. How do we do this? By serving one another in different ministries at church and in the community, and sharing the light and love of Jesus with the lost, not only by our words, but by our actions, as we daily live our lives here in our community.

Pinelands Regional High School & Middle School Team Outreach
About three years ago we began hosting a few football dinners for our township high school. That quickly grew to us holding football dinners every week the night before their games. Then other sports teams began to call asking if they could have their end of the season sports banquets here at the church. Unfortunately, the school is not able to host these very important dinners for our kids and it is our pleasure to be able to work with the school to fill that need free of charge. In 2009 alone we have held 6 football dinners, 15 End of the year banquets for the football, soccer, field hockey, tennis, basketball and baseball teams totaling over 500 kids. Our future goals are to continue to offer our facility to the faculty, students and parents of Pinelands Regional School District and to continue to make a positive experience for all.

Food & Clothing
For the last six years we have held a food and clothing drive in October for the people in our community. It is a tangible way to help families and to show them that God cares about their physical needs and so do we. We invite the community and our members to help with food and clothing donations by saving items throughout the year and during that week we transform our sancutuary into a “department store” volunteers walk the families through the racks and help them “shop”. We partner with the surrounding schools, churches , local businesses and newspapers as well in order to notify as many families in need as possible. This past year we saw about 500 people come though the doors and enjoy a “free” shopping experience. Every year this event grows. Our hope in the near future is to do this 2-3 times a year.

Food Pantry
Currently we have a section of our church set aside as a “Food Pantry”. We receive donations from members of our church, people in the community and also from a few local supermarkets. Every week several people contact our church with genuine needs and we are able to provide them with a least two bags of food. In the future we hope to become connected to the county food bank so that we can assist more families in our community. The need is great, especially in today’s economy and it continues to increase with each month. Weekly we serve 50 families.

Thanksgiving
For the past 6 years we have been putting Thanksgiving baskets together for a number of families within our church as well as in our community. During our Food & Clothing Drive in October we spoke with many families who are struggling to meet their basic needs. We “adopted” a number of these families and provided them with a Thanksgiving Basket filled with all the trimmings using donations given by church members and people within the community. Last year we blessed 20 families. It is our hope to increase that number this year.

Christmas
Christmas is a time of giving and sharing for the past 5 years we sponsor “Christmas Blessings”. Many of our members have experienced financial hardships in their lives and we love to adopt families within the church as well as in our community who cannot afford to give their children a special Christmas. Last year we teamed up with Living Waters Christian Center who were connected with Toys for Tots. We provided toys for 16 children in a variety of ages. We also held a night for the moms and dads to come and wrap the gifts for their children. Every year we hope to increase the number of kids that we are able to assist.

Family Promise
Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans –children and adults- are homeless. Family Promise is a non profit, non denominational organization for families in transition. Family Promise brings shelter, meals and support services to families without homes. This organization works along side of churches, social services and many other organizations to help these families find permanent housing and jobs. 70% of the families that participate in this program find jobs and homes. We currently are a Host Site. Three weeks out of the year we Host up to 15 people. We work along side of Family Promise and provide within our facility housing, food and transportation to and from the Day Site. This requires many volunteers from within the church as well as in the community. For more information on this Program or if you would like to be a part of this life changing program, please click on the link below.

Ocean County Christian Home School Association (OCCHSA)
OCCHSA is a Christ-centered organization, from all over Ocean County, who home school their children. They utilize our facility on a monthly basis to socialize and educate their children together. Some of the activities they do at our facility are sign language, CPR/First Aid, knitting, public speaking, arts/crafts, and much more. Our goal is to continue to support events in which organizations like this one can come free of charge and learn and grow together.

Ocean County Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts of the USA is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls—all girls—where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and skills for success in the real world. In partnership with committed adult volunteers, girls develop qualities that will serve them all their lives, like leadership, strong values, social conscience, and conviction about their own potential and self-worth. We offer our facility to a few Girl Scout troops in our area. Our goal is to continue to support the young girls in our community.

"A Community That Cares" 5K Run & Family Fun Walk
Lighthouse Family & Youth Center along with AtlantiCare and Pinelands Wildcats Athletics hosted our 1st Annual "A Community That Cares" 5K Run September 5, 2009. The event took place at Pinelands Regional High School. All of the proceeds of this event were put towards Pinelands Athletics and Community Care. Our goal is to work together as a community that cares about the families who live in it and to promote health and wellness. It has provided a tangible way to help support the needs of our youth at Pinelands Regional School District's Athletic Department and also the Community Needs by supplying food and other needs to families who are struggling during the year. Our 3rd Annual "A Community That Cares" 5K was held on Saturday, September 3, 2011 and was a huge success. For more information please go to http://lfyc.lighthousealliance.net