By Allison Perrine
MIDDLETOWN – Lincroft residents Abe and Linda Littenberg are avid supporters of their community. And now, the community is recognizing them.
Abe was named Middletown’s Distinguished Citizen of the Year during the April 19 township committee meeting. There, an award and key to the town were gifted to him for his work as a philanthropic community leader and ardent supporter of the township’s businesses, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This past year has thrown many small business owners and residents into challenging economic situations, and Abe has made it his mission to help others get back on their feet again,” said Mayor Tony Perry. “His passion and commitment to bettering the lives of those around him is admired and appreciated. We thank Abe Littenberg for consistently donating his time, energy and resources to those who are in need and need it most. We are incredibly fortunate to call him Middletown’s own.”
The Littenbergs have been active in the community for many years; Abe has been a partner alongside Jack Guttenplan at Guttenplan’s Frozen Dough for almost 50 years. The business, located along Route 36 in Middletown, is a producer and supplier of high-quality frozen dough products and works with supermarkets and businesses locally and nationwide. But to do his part for those in need, Abe has worked with the township social services team and local food banks to donate bread to those experiencing financial burdens.
“Jack Guttenplan and I have been partners for 49 years… and I think that that’s extraordinary,” said Abe in a phone interview with The Two River Times Monday. Jack’s son Adam Guttenplan is now the president of the business. He has taken over a majority of the critical day-to-day decisions, along with CFO and partner Shar Seshadri and senior vice president of manufacturing Tony Lopes, Abe said.
Abe and Linda also own A Child’s Place in Lincroft, which offers high-quality education to children ages 2 1⁄2 to 7, as well as extended care during the week. Despite challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the school has been running in-person all year and ran its summer camp last year, which Abe called “unique” due to the difficulties of maintaining learning pods.
“The school reinvented itself to conform with what’s going on in the world right now,” Abe said. That meant establishing pods of 10 children and two teachers. The pods could not interact with each other which is contrary to its usual mode of operation. The teachers worked hard to make it all work, he said.
The Littenbergs hired director Zack Klausz about two years ago to take over the day-to-day operations of the school, along with administrator Elaine Athanasiou, who he said “absolutely changed” their lives. Because of this, the couple has more time to support others in the community.
Abe is now actively involved with Lunch Break and is a member of four of its committees. He also supports No Limits Cafe in Middletown, which employs adults with intellectual disabilities for a chance to do meaningful work.
And his support for others certainly did not slow down during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Perry, Abe – chairman of the township’s economic development committee – happily supported the town- ship’s Takeout Thursday initiative and small business recovery efforts to help others struggling during the initial shutdowns in 2020. And with the help of the economic development committee and Lincroft Village Green Association board members, the Lincroft resident created a database of local restaurants to provide an easy way for community members to order meals from their favorite establishments during the lockdown.
“Abe Littenberg is an effective, efficient and compassionate business leader who has spent countless hours helping other business owners navigate this pandemic, as well as help facilitate a COVID-19 economic recovery plan,” said Perry.
The Littenbergs will be soon be recognized for their philanthropic efforts when they accept the Eastern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce Corporate Good Neighbor Spinnaker on behalf of Guttenplan’s in June.
Overall, Abe said he felt overwhelmed, blessed, honored and grateful to have been nominated for this award. “There’s a lot of great people in town. I can think of a great many who would be deserving of this award. I’m just very pleased that they selected me and it’s just nice,” he said. “It’s just nice to be recognized.”
He extended thanks to his friends and family; business partners; representatives of Lunch Break and No Limits Cafe; Rose and Michael Stallmeyer who work with Covenant House and encourage him to participate in its annual Sleep Out in Newark each year; township committee members; and many others.
But he gave a very special mention to his wife Linda.
“Normally these things end with ‘Last but not least,’ but I want to start with ‘First and foremost,’ my wife Linda,” he said as he accepted his plaque at the committee meeting. “Every day she endeavors to make me the best that I can be and I don’t think that I could have done half of these things… without it.”
This article originally appeared in the April 29-May 5, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
