Lots of us travellers grumble and complain about our travel woes. And yet these inconveniences do not compare to the woes that many others this holiday season are suffering from, and for whom the most basic needs, including food to eat, are in great need of being met now and beyond the holidays. My friend Deborah Smith at JerseyBites.com has let me know that the food banks of New Jersey are in dire need of replenishment, and so I ask for your help here.
Regardless of which side we take on the bank bailouts, there is one bank in New Jersey we cannot let fail, and that is the Community FoodBank of New Jersey! The CFBNJ fights hunger and poverty in New Jersey through their distribution of food and grocery products, creation of new programs to meet the needs of low-income people, and enlistment of all sectors of society in the battle to end hunger.
Typically, when we think of hunger we think of people living in densely populated urban areas who are economically disadvantaged, or perhaps those in rural areas also economically disadvantaged. Of course, there are such people within our cities and rural areas who go hungry every day. And yet given the current economic crisis in the Garden State and across the country, those going hungry are no longer just our traditional poor, but now surprisingly include people who normally would be considered well-off but have lost their jobs so that now they, too, are reaching out for help at the food pantries. At the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, requests for food have gone up 30 percent, but donations are down by 25 percent. Clearly, it's getting tough to meet increasing demand with current food supplies, so much so the FoodBank for the first time in its 25 year history is developing a rationing mechanism.
As the state's key distributor of food to local banks -- serving more than 500,000 people a year and providing assistance to nearly 1,700 non-profits in the state -- the CFBNJ needs a stable food replenishment to keep its warehouse shelves adequately stocked so that through its distribution to reach local food banks, individuals in need have access to food.
Click here to watch a video with more information about the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.
Having said this, here's where you can help!
1. Make a monetary contribution to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. Visit www.njfoodbank.org . The food bank does not accept small amounts of food, such as a cart of groceries. They encourage those donations go directly to a local food pantry or soup kitchen (see item 2 below). Rather, the food bank accepts large quantity food donations, such as a truck full of groceries, as well as monetary donations which they stretch to purchase food at wholesale prices, such as 300 lb. bags of rice, for example.
2. Donate food to your local food pantry. Link to the website, http://www.sefan.org/ , that lists local food pantries in New Jersey. Go to the county link on the left sidebar for lists of food pantries in New Jersey by county.
3. Organize a food drive. Call 908-355-FOOD for advice and tips.
4. Help "Check Out Hunger." Look for the "Check Out Hunger" coupons at your local supermarket and donate. No donation is too small!
With our help, we will not let the Community FoodBank of New Jersey fail!
Participating Bloggers for “We Can’t Let This Bank Fail” campaign are:
4. Simply Sable
5. John and Lisa are eating in South Jersey
7. Chefdruck
10. Cook Appeal
11. Crotchety Old Man Yells at Cars
12. Mommy Vents
13. This Full House
14. Paper Bridges
18. Fits and Giggles
19. House Hubbies Home Cooking
22. Tommyeats.com
23. Off the broiler
25. IamNotaChef.com
26. SimplyBeer.com
27. HistoryGeek.com
33. Best of Roxy
34. Citizen Mom.net
35. Lynetteradio.com
36. Jersey Beat
37. Pop Vulture Phil
38. JerseySmarts.com
39. LongBeachIslandSummers.com
42. Somerset08873
44. KateSpot.com
46. JCRegister.com
47. New Jersey Real Estate Report
50. Man of Infirmity
51. Another Delco Guy in South Jersey
52. SweetNicks.com
53. Average Noone
56. The Center of New Jersey Life
58. Morristown, Chatham, Summit, and Madison NJ Real Estate
59. Midtown Direct Real Estate News
61. BlowUpRadio.com
62. LazlosDen.com
65. Banannie
67. Matawan Advocate
69. The Joy of Toast
70. Route 55
72. SaveJersey
73. Stompbox
74. Joe the Blogger
76. Stacey Snacks
80. Triple Venti
84. Cape Cuisine
87. Figmentations
88. MiddletownMike
91. Mack’s Journey Through Life
93. Tiger Hawk
94. Politics Patrol, The Bob Ingle Blog
95. The Food Chain
96. Henson’s Hell
98. Baristanet
99. New Jersey: Politics Unusual
100. Jersey Shore Blog
101. Plainfield Today
102. Beacon Bulletin
103. Journal Square Jersey City 07306
Thanks in advance for your support.
Sofie Jamison
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