TCNJ

21 WINTER 2024 and I realized that I was more capable being CEO of Mercer Street Friends than being a second-grade teacher." So in February 2020 that's what he became, quickly hiring Allen as chief operating officer and food bank director. "Less than a year into our tenure, Butter and I realized that our strategy long term had to be for more warehouse space that we should own so that we could build an asset that would serve the community for decades to come," he says. "We need to be here, and we need to be here for the long haul." " They started telling us their story and what their goals were … And all of a sudden, we all said, 'Let's try to make this thing work.'" — Steve Matejka Mercer Street wanted to buy Matejka and Dumhart's building, but Matejka and Dumhart didn't want to sell. Although their company had been bought and sold several times, they still owned the building, and they wanted to continue owning it. What about a lease? Mercer Street said no. But Mercer Street was facing a deadline. The $2 million from the state was only available until June 30, 2023; it would evaporate if they didn't use it by then. "I was not optimistic, but we said, let's go back to Howie and Steve and talk to them," Flynn says. Things were different the second time around. "They started telling us their story and what their goals were," says Matejka about Flynn and Allen. "And all of a sudden we all said, 'Let's try to make this thing work.'" "We just came to a meeting of the minds," Dumhart says. His daugh- ter, like Matejka's, had worked at HomeFront, which offers shelter, services, and food — much of it from Mercer Street Friends — to people without homes. Their discussions became as much about legacy as about business — about four men with deep TCNJ ties finding a way to better serve the 100,000 people who rely on Mercer Street. "The stars aligned, and it all seemed to make sense." The sale closed on June 2, with just four weeks to spare. "It's interesting that now, 32 years later, a business that is different but very similar is utilizing the building," Dumhart says. "The way I designed it you would have thought I designed it for Mercer Street Friends, because the businesses seem so synchronized." Allen, who was recently named to the Board of Trustees of TCNJ, is already plotting where everything will go when they move the whole operation to the new warehouse by early spring. "Empty there," he says about the old building, "and fill here." He's optimistic that an extra 7,500 square feet of warehouse space will make a real impact, noting the ability to purchase and store additional product when special pricing is available and room to prep and prepare more food bags for schools and our community. "It allows us to advance our part in addressing food insecurity for Mercer County," he says. ■ Kevin Coyne is a freelance writer who teaches at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Four men, all with TCNJ connections, and one mission to help bring food to those who need it.

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