Sister Jean Webster’s Legacy Is Being Trashed by the Poor Handling of Current Crisis

Sister Jean Webster’s Legacy is being Trashed
by the Poor Handling of Current Crisis

By HARRY HURLEY
Political Columnist

The Hurley Line:

The abrupt closing of Sister Jean Webster’s Kitchen in Atlantic City is a disgrace. That so called responsible public officials would allow this to occur has earned our rightful condemnation.

It is no secret that powerful people have wanted Sister Jean’s Kitchen closed or relocated for more than 35 years. I get it. A scant few want this this kind of function in “their” neighborhood. Yet, this vital operation serves hundreds of people, twice per-day and they need to find a new home for this kitchen, immediately.

Before we analyze the various issues surrounding this unfortunate matter, let me introduce you to Sister Jean Webster and share some other thoughts about this late, great, wonderful woman.

Sister Jean was one of the most unselfish, decent and kind people in our region’s history. She was born on January 7, 1935 and she died on January 10, 2011. Sister Jean did profound work that no government program could compete ever with.

Sister Jean earned a well deserved “street marker” in Atlantic City for her lifetime of distinguished public service. The marker reads as follows:

The truth is that they don’t make them like Sister Jean anymore. A number of years ago, I was advised by two high-ranking Atlantic County officials that Sister Jean Webster had passed away and “we knew that you would want to know.”

Immediately, I fired up my computer and went to my website and wrote and filed a heart-felt eulogy. As it turned out, Sister Jean’s demise had been greatly exaggerated. She had not passed away.

Word got out quickly about my “report” and I felt terrible about it. The local daily rag took their cheap shots and I took my public flogging in stride. I gave thought about what could I do to make-up for this gaffe? Note: I was the fourth media member in line to report the news; yet, the first three reports didn’t count. Just mine.

It came to me. Let’s make the ultimate lemonade from lemons. I held a very successful on-air “Hurleython” and we raised $ 8,000. I had a nice, big blow-up check printed and I went to Sister Jean Webster’s Kitchen. I apologized to Sister Jean in person for my public mispronouncement and presented her with a check in the amount of $ 8,000.

Sister Jean gave me a big hug and said, “Harry, when you do this for me … You can say that I died every day.” It was classic, decent Sister Jean Webster in action.

Another unforgettable memory about Sister Jean occurred a few years later. During the Summer of 2013, I found out that Sister Jean’s grave was left unmarked … there was no headstone.

This was another moment of truth and it was unacceptable. A good friend of Sister Jean, Sister Debbie Thomas called Frank Cirillo (who was a previous volunteer at Sister Jean’s Kitchen), who next called me.

I did another on-air “Hurleython,” and our listeners raised the money to pay for a beautiful headstone for Sister Jean. Her grave had remained unmarked for nearly two years. (The headstone is pictured here).

Sister Jean never referred to her kitchen as a soup kitchen. “God told me to start feeding people,” Sister Jean said many times over the years. In more than 25 years, Sister Jean served more than 4 million meals to those in need.

This is staggering by any measure and it demonstrates the power possessed by a single person, who may have been small in stature … but, was every bit a true giant in reality. Sister Jean spent her own money on others, so that they would not go hungry.

On Sunday, February 3, 2019, I was tagged on social media by Tracy Allen. She had spoken with the Reverend John Scotland, who has served as executive director of Sister Jean’s Kitchen for many years.

Reverend Scotland advised that Sister Jean’s Kitchen would be forced to close on very short notice (within one day), because the City had determined that their current building is unsafe to occupy. They were granted a three day reprieve and were ordered to close on Thursday, February 7, 2019.

The void would be immediately felt, as Sister Jean’s Kitchen had been feeding 200 meals, twice per-day.

This is where our leaders have failed us. There is no acceptable reason why there would be even a single meal gap between leaving their present location and moving to their new home.

I remember talking with former Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian more than a year ago about this. There was a strong desire to relocate the kitchen because of its proximity to the vital tourism/casino districts. That’s understandable. However, the new home should have been locked down before things have come to this.

The Victory First Presbyterian Church is 163 years old. It was damaged in 2012 by Super Storm Hurricane Sandy.

Before Guardian left office, everything seemed to be proceeding nicely. They had identified a new home, located on the St. Monica’s Church property. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority was prepared to step-up with $ 1 million in funding.

All appeared well. Until it wasn’t. Disagreements in the building plans, code upgrades post Hurricane Sandy stalled the project. I believe had not Guardian lost his re-election bid, we wouldn’t be writing about this right now. Guardian would not have allowed this to happen.

It is my hope that leaders at all levels will band together right away and fix this situation without delay. Hundreds of needy people count on this kitchen each and every day for two meals a day.

Various sources have advised me that the Atlantic City Rescue Mission can handle the additional 400-plus meals. However, it is 2 miles from the current location and the Mission already has a substantial clientele to manage. This is not the long-term solution.

This much I do know. If the various people in power had to worry about where their next meal was coming from … this situation would never have occurred in the first place. No more politics. No more lame excuses. Fix this, now!

Harry Hurley is the president of Harry Hurley Consulting and Communications, LLC. He hosts the daily talk radio program “Hurley in the Morning” 6-10 a.m., weekdays on Townsquare Media, WPG Talk Radio 104.1 FM & 1450 AM, where he also serves as the senior programming consultant. Harry was elected to both the Philadelphia (2013) and New Jersey (2015) Radio Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Harry Hurley has also been selected (2015-2018) as one of the Top 100 Most Important Talk Radio Hosts in America by Talkers Magazine. Hurley is also doing national fill-in, on-air talent work for FOX News Radio on their nationally syndicated platforms. He has hosted various programs for local television and is the editor and publisher of his news and information website, www.harryhurley.com. Send comments to HarryHurley@aol.com