Inside the Lighthouse Community Center, “a beacon of hope” transcends to those who need a helping hand.
Run by Pastor Randy Van Osten and housed in the First Baptist Church of Pitman on North Broadway, the center offers a thrift shop, serves hot meals twice a month and provides a safe place for kids to come and hang out.
“During the pandemic, we began thinking about how our church building was being used, which is typically only for a few hours a week,” Van Osten relayed. “We wanted to figure out a way to use our space that would better serve our community, and The Lighthouse was born.”
In March 2021, Van Osten and other members from the church and the community formed a nonprofit community development corporation and began setting his vision into motion. The first step was holding a fundraiser to clean out and repurpose the church social hall into a pay-as-you-can thrift shop. Around the same time, the Samaritan Thrift Store in town was closing and donated all of their remaining merchandise and clothing racks to the new Fig Leaf Thrift, named in honor of the church’s original thrift shop that operated in the late 1960s to mid-70s.
“The thrift shop gives us the opportunity to serve the community when the need is present,” Van Osten explained. “We’ve been able to help many families during times of need, including a family that was affected by one of the tornadoes last year, a family that had a fire in their home, people in domestic violence situations, [and] single parents.
“It also gives people dignity because you’re not just handing them a pile of clothes. They can come in at their convenience and pick out clothes and whatever items they need for themselves.”
With the money raised from the thrift store, The Lighthouse was able to begin offering free hot meals to members of the community twice a month.
“We’re addressing food scarcity in the community by offering wholesome, freshly prepared meals for people who are unable to cook or prepare meals for themselves,” Van Osten said, noting meals are offered for pick up on the first Thursday and third Monday of every month.
“We try to make everything from scratch, using locally sourced, fresh ingredients,” said Van Osten, whose background running a café for 18 years prior to his work with the church has helped with figuring out menus and preparing generous meals. “We started out serving 12 meals, then 40, then 80, and now it’s up to an average of 100-150 people per meal.”
About half of The Lighthouse volunteers are affiliated with the church, but the other half of the volunteers come from the local community.
“Our vision has always been to promote ‘community helping community,’” says Van Osten. “We’re working alongside people willing to use the resources and skills they have to help other people. I am extremely thankful for all of the volunteers who support the center, especially those in leadership roles. Like a lighthouse, we’re here to serve as a ‘navigational aid’ helping people find their way through life’s challenges.”
The Lighthouse has also created a community youth center for local teens whether offering “Dungeons and Dragons” game nights and/or the Rainbow Room, a safe place for LGBTQIA+ groups to meet. The center also plans to hold “pop-in” nights for kids sixth to 12th grade on Thursday nights for a few hours where they can hang out, play games, do crafts, and just have a safe place to go for unstructured activities.
“There’s not always that much out there for kids to do,” Van Osten said. “There are some families that qualify for free programs and some families that can afford programs for their kids, but there tends to be a gap in programs for those in between. We’re looking to fill that need and give kids a safe place to go in the community.”
In the future Van Osten envisions The Lighthouse offering training programs for job and life skills, putting together a pay-as-you-can community café or coffee house to hire kids that age out of foster care and provide them with work opportunities, as well as possibly offering a space where people can come in and sit for meals rather than taking them to go.
“We are always looking for more volunteers and will continue to build on what we’re doing now and be there to support the community in whatever way they need us in the future.”
The Lighthouse Community Center is located at 30 N. Broadway in the First Baptist Church of Pitman.
Fig Leaf Thrift hours:
Tuesday – 5-8 p.m.
Wednesday – 3-6 p.m.
Thursday – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Every fourth Friday – 5-8 p.m.
Saturday – 9 a.m. to noon.
For more information or to volunteer contact thepitmanlighthouse@gmail.com or call 856-589-2266.
