The Reverend Dr. Eldridge Gittens born and raised in New York City. He attended Haaren High School and Shelton College before serving in the United States Army during World War II. In 1955, at a meeting held in his Jamaica, New York home, Rev. Gittens and eleven others founded the Rush Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Today, the Church is a pillar in the Queens community it serves. Its active congregation, under the leadership of its wise, patient and congenial pastor, embraces all who come. Among its many community programs are such needed activities as a food pantry for the hungry, a clothing distribution program, scouting, academic tutoring, family counseling, housing development, an addiction recovery program, a youth choir and, of course worship. Rev. Gittens for more than 40 years was committed to improving the lives of people in the community.