Cherry Hill Sun

Tag: food drive

  • Township answers the need for food donations

    Abigail Twiford/ The Sun
    The township’s Thanksgiving food drive benefits its food pantry and one at Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Southern New Jersey.

    Cherry Hill’s annual Thanksgiving food drive began on Nov. 1 and will continue through Sunday, Nov. 23.

    The drive will benefit the township food pantry and the pantry at Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Southern New Jersey. In addition, three dropoff locations have been set up at the townshp, Croft Farm and the municipal building. The latter two accept donations Monday through Friday until 5 p.m., while the library accepts items all week during its hours of operation.

    The township has run the holiday food drive for several years. But this year, it holds special significance as it coincides with the ongoing federal government shutdown and the resulting cuts to SNAP benefits.

    “This drive is more important than ever, with the government shutdown and SNAP benefits in peril,” said Mayor Dave Fleisher. “There are more people at risk.”

    Suggested donations include canned goods, snacks, bread and staple foods like dry pasta and rice. SNAP recipients can’t buy personal hygiene products or baby items like diapers with their benefits, so the food pantries will accept them for donation.

    “The pantries give us what their most needed items are, and then we share those suggestions with people,” said the mayor’s deputy chief of staff Megan Brown.

    The township-run food drive isn’t the only one going on in Cherry Hill. The school district is accepting donations for the pantry at the Lewis Administration Building through Friday, Dec. 19.

    “I’m convinced, especially this year, that Cherry Hill will rise to the occasion,” the mayor emphasized. ” … People are in need, and our community will deliver.”

    Township officials have also gathered a list of other local organizations and businesses running drives.

    “We’re trying to spread our reach as far as we can,” Brown noted.

    The township is also encouraging residents who can spare the time to volunteer with the pantries. The increased demand caused by SNAP cuts will also increase the need for volunteers to sort and distribute donated items.

    “It’s just important for people to know that there are places where they can volunteer and help make a difference,” Brown said.

  • ‘No one should be going hungry in our country’

    Courtesy of Camden County Board of Commissioners
    Camden County Commissioner Virginia Betteridge unloads bags for produce while helping distribute food to constituents.

    Across the nation, the Nov. 1 cuts to SNAP benefits resulting from the shutdown of the federal government have increased the need for food pantries to provide for those experiencing food insecurity.

    Camden County is no different, with the board of commissioners holding an emergency food distribution event at Camden County Community College on Nov. 12, assisting SNAP recipients, as well as federal workers who had to either stop working, or if considered essential, work for over a month without a paycheck.

    Approximately 75,000 county residents receive SNAP to help them afford food, with about half of all recipients being children and another third having a disability. 

    Though the government reopened on Nov. 12, the impact of the delayed pay and SNAP benefits was still felt by many.

    “The billions in SNAP that was held up can’t be replaced by the few million we’ve put in it,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Ed Wengryn.

    “… People should continue to donate to our food banks, our pantries, our soup kitchens, and everybody who helps feed the hungry, because it is an unending need, particularly in these times of higher cost for everyone.”

    In order to receive the emergency food donations, participants were required to provide proof of residence in Camden County and show either their SNAP benefits card or their federal employee ID.

    Food was provided by the Food Bank of South Jersey and Farmers Against Hunger, with all recipients receiving a bag of produce and a care box of nonperishable food and ingredients that would be able to create a full meal, including rice, canned vegetables, pasta, peanut butter, cereal and applesauce.

    Apples, oranges, peppers and sweet corn were provided to families, with all of the produce except the oranges being locally grown in South Jersey. 

    Courtesy of Camden County Board of Commissioners Volunteers load apples into bags to be given out to SNAP recipients and government employees.

    Linda Palmquist was one of the Food Bank of South Jersey volunteers present for packaging and handing out the donations.

    “Volunteering today was very easy,” Palmquist noted. “It was very organized…

    “It’s ridiculous that we should have hungry people in this country, ever.” 

    Volunteers gathered from 1 to 3 p.m. to begin packaging the produce into fabric bags and piling the bags onto pallets next to the pallets of care boxes, allowing for an organized distribution of the supplies.

    Camden County Community College dietary technician student Whitney Robinson was another volunteer, who felt compelled to help during her free time.

    “No one should be going hungry in our country, especially since we have a surplus,” she said. “… There’s a big disparity between children and the elderly. Everyone, in general, just needs to have nutritious food.”

    The event was conducted in a drive-thru only format, with recipients being required to be in a car to receive the food on a first-come, first served basis.

    Public officials from the county, state and local levels, as well as leaders from the Food Bank of South Jersey and the New Jersey Agricultural Society were all in attendance, joining food bank volunteers in handing out the donations.

    Officials also emphasised that with most New Jersey schools being closed the first week of November, food insecure students were even more vulnerable, and they commended the efforts of local school districts in combating hunger.

    “They cared enough to bring their staff in and to make sure that no student was hungry last week,” said Camden County commissioner Virginia Betteridge.

    As families drove up in two lines on either side of the pallets of food, volunteers and officials opened the trunk or backseat of each vehicle.

    Distribution of the supplies began at 3 p.m. and lasted until 5 p.m., with all of the supplies going to those in need throughout the county.