By Kevin Coughlin
Declaring that “everyone deserves a second chance,” Gov. Chris Christie praised the charitable works of Morristown’s Market Street Mission on Wednesday and took a turn behind its soup kitchen counter, serving turkey and gravy to men battling to overcome substance abuse.
The Governor accompanied his wife, Mary Pat Christie, who named Mission Executive Director David Scott a “New Jersey Hero” for helping turn around more than 1,200 lives during his 26 years on Market Street.
“Addiction is a disease, not a moral failing,” the Governor said, comparing it to cancer, heart disease and diabetes. “No life is disposable, every life is a precious gift from God. Everyone deserves a second chance, or more, to make things right in life.”
Pausing from his presidential campaign, the Governor heard testimonials from grizzled-looking men who said Scott’s faith-based program–“Jesus Saves” signs greet visitors–saved them from self-destruction.
Scott acknowledged Gov. Christie’s expanded New Jersey’s Drug Court, which sends nonviolent first offenders to treatment instead of prison.
The Governor urged citizens to donate their time and money to the Mission during this holiday season; he said members of his administration are volunteering at soup kitchens, food banks and post-Sandy rebuilding projects.
“We need to remember that each and every one of us is only one bad judgment, one bad decision, one bad break away from being a person in need.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re the governor of the state of New Jersey or you’re anyone else in our society. There but for the grace of God go I,” said the Governor, who did not take questions from the media throng.
He has made news recently by joining at least 30 governors seeking to block Syrian refugees from entering their states, and by insisting there is no climate change crisis.
His flagging campaign got a boost when it garnered a key newspaper endorsement in New Hampshire, the first primary battleground.
Video: ‘Everyone deserves a second chance’
BROKEN VESSELS AND BLESSINGS
Scott is the 39th person named a New Jersey Hero since the program started six years ago to recognize “everyday people whose life’s mission is to help other people,” Mary Pat Christie said.
The First Lady gave Scott a $7,500 check, a pin, and a gift basket “with a lovely picture of my husband and me,” she said, sparking laughter in a drab room where two dozen down-and-out men sleep on the floor on a typical night.
Established 126 years ago, the Market Street Mission initially catered to men struggling to beat Demon Alcohol. These days, it feeds poor men, women and children, shelters homeless men, and helps men shake drug- and alcohol habits in a rehab program that lasts up to a year.
Men must follow strict rules to stay in the program. Each morning begins with a prayer service. Many men then work at the Market Street Mission thrift store on George Street. Classes teach new job skills to help them when they “graduate.”
“This place has saved my life… with a little bit of recovery, a little bit of faith, and a lot of working on myself,” Evan Schambach said, after being served lunch by the Christies.
Kevin Short said he was “pretty much a broken vessel” when the Mission took him in.
“I was hopeless, I was down and out. It was such a blessing to be able to come in here and have [Scott] accept me. This place has changed my life. It gives me a lot of hope, this place. It got me in touch with God.”
“You’re truly in a house where people care for you,” William Little told the Governor and First Lady. Little said drugs torpedoed his six-figure job, and everything else.
“I was broken in my addiction. But what I’ve come to realize since I’ve been here is, I was broken in my spiritual connection with the Lord,” he said.
After graduating from the Mission’s Life Change program, Little volunteered as a two-year intern, to repay the Mission’s kindness.
‘SEDUCED…BY A TRIP TO FRIENDLY’S’
Gov. Christie said he was moved by accounts of men who quit their businesses to work at the Mission, largely because Scott inspired them.
“We heard some stories upstairs about his persuasive powers,” the Governor said, to knowing laughter in the packed room.
Others left the Mission, he recounted, only to be “seduced…by a trip to Friendly’s, apparently, and that brought them over the finish line to come back here…and make it their life’s work.”
Scott, whose wife, son and grandchildren attended the ceremony, gave Mary Pat Christie a book written by a Mission graduate, and led everyone in a prayer.
“It really isn’t about me,” Scott said of the Heroes honor.
“The Lord is working through us, and the lives of the men… When guys come into the Mission, part of what happens is, they share that ‘I’m involved in addiction.’ And that’s the first step in seeing recovery.”
READ MORE ABOUT THE MARKET STREET MISSION
Video: Gov. Christie praises David Scott
I fund it odd the this religious charity was chosen when throughout the state and Morristown there are so many groups that do more with less.
Great story ~ kudos to Governor Christie & First Lady Mary Pat Christie for their acknowledgement of David Scott’s vision and humanitarian contribution to Morristown.