Blogging out Hunger~We Can't Let This Bank Fail!

Bloggers unite to Fight Hunger in New Jersey

My dear friend Deb of Jersey Bites invited me to join in this campaign she is coordinating on behalf of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey — the largest food bank in the state. As you are probably well aware, the Food Bank is in desperate need of donations this holiday season. With bare shelves and demand for food among state residents far out pacing supply, the FoodBank is in danger of being unable to meet the needs of New Jersey’s hungry.

More than 35 million Americans, including 12 million children, either live with or are on the verge of hunger.

One out of every five New Jersey families does not earn enough to afford the basic necessities – housing, food and child care – although 85 percent of these households have at least one family member who is working.

In New Jersey alone, an estimated 250,000 clients will be seeking sustenance this year from the state's food banks. But recently, as requests for food assistance have risen, food donations are on the decline, leaving food bank shelves almost empty and hungry families waiting for something to eat.


The situation is dire, no more so than at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), the largest food bank in the state, where requests for food have gone up 30 percent, but donations are down by 25 percent. Warehouse shelves that are typically stocked with food are bare and supplies have gotten so low that, for the first time in its 25 year history, the food bank 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 stability of replenishment of the CFBNJ is essential to ensuring that individuals in need have access to food.

To really understand the serious need for donations, just click on the link below and take a minute to view the video.

If everyone could just do a little, it would help those in need a lot. To help, people can:

• Make a monetary contribution: Visit www.njfoodbank.org
• Donate food: Drop off a bag of food at your local food pantry.
• Organize a food drive: We can help explain the logistics of starting a food drive. Just call 908-355-FOOD.
• Help "Check Out Hunger:" Look for the "Check Out Hunger" coupons at your local supermarket and donate. No donation is too small!
  
• Please look for the $1, $3, & $5 donation slips at A&P, Food Basics, Foodtown, Genuardi’s, Kings, Pathmark, ShopRite, Super Fresh and Wegmans. 100% of your generous donation in the stores or at http://www.checkouthungernj.org/ will come back to the FoodBank and make a real difference in the fight against hunger in New Jersey.

Over 100 bloggers have united to fight hunger across the Garden State. Together we can fight against 'HUNGER'.

We’re hoping our efforts will compel everyone to do something, anything, to help.