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Emergency Food Providers

Emergency Food Colloquium Brings Local Food Providers Together

Emergency food providers, social service agencies and representatives from other key sectors of the local food system gather at the first meeting of the Montclair-Area Community Food Security Colloquium. Pictured is Steve Adubato, Ph.D., noted broadcast journalist, facilitating the opening session of the colloquium series. The effort is providing a forum to confront the challenges of hunger through the formation of new partnerships, creative problem solving and enhanced communication.

The Food Trust, a non-profit based in Philadelphia, is convening the three-meeting colloquium, which is funded by a grant from the Mountainside Health Foundation. Local agencies interested in getting involved may contact Kathy Smith at the Foundation at (973) 746-6130, ext. 14, or ksmith@mshfoundation.org

Give the Gift of Good Health!

Help our local agencies and emergency food providers by organizing a food drive! See the flyer created by the Food Trust and a list of local agencies that accept food donations in the Mountainside Health Foundation's service area.

Mountainside Health Foundation Grant to the Community Food Bank will help local families in need

The food distributed this year to Community FoodBank of New Jersey member agencies in Nutley, Montclair, Bloomfield and Clifton will be funded in part by a $75,000 grant from the Mountainside Health Foundation.

“This grant enables the Mountainside Health Foundation to respond to the urgent needs of the growing number of struggling families in our area,” said Pam Scott, Chief Foundation Officer. “The Community FoodBank of New Jersey, with its emphasis on providing nutritious food to agencies, is an ideal partner in the delivery of our health mission.”

The Community FoodBank distributes donated food free of charge, except for a shared maintenance fee of 18 cents per pound to cover the cost of trucking, freezing and refrigeration, and other warehouse expenses. Food that is not donated, which the Community FoodBank must purchase, is provided to member agencies at the same low cost that has been obtained by Community FoodBank food purchasers. This grant will allow the Community Foodbank’s member agencies in the Mountainside Health Foundation’s coverage area to receive food without having to pay a shared food cost or a shared maintenance fee.

A survey of Community FoodBank food pantries in September 2008 showed a 29 percent increase, on average, in the number of people coming to them for emergency food, compared with January 2008. At the same time, the cost of commonly purchased food items rose an average of 21 percent between September 2007 and September 2008, according to an analysis by the Community FoodBank.

“We are very grateful to the Mountainside Health Foundation for awarding this grant,” said Kathleen DiChiara, president and CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. “The monies will directly feed needy people in soup kitchens, food pantries, and homeless shelters. It will allow these agencies to help meet the increased demand for their services, despite the increase in food costs.”

For more information, contact Michele Hujber at the Community FoodBank, at 908-355-3663 ext. 253, or www.njfoodbank.org.