ELECTED OFFICIALS, COMMUNITY GROUPS, AND BUSINESSES JOIN JEWISH FEDERATION TO FIGHT HUNGER 

This new model of partnerships is making a difference. Nonprofits, businesses, community organizations, and elected officials come together to fight food insecurity. There are 30 collection sites and hundreds of volunteers helping thousands of people who struggle each and every day with food insecurity. 

PARAMUS, NJ –Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Assemblyman Gary Schaer, Assemblywoman Lisa Swain, Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, Assemblywoman Shama Haider, local officials, and community stakeholders and leaders will be coming together for a press conference on April 4, 2023, at 10am at Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey to recognize and celebrate the successful completion of Federation’s March Mega Food Drive and underscore the continual need for better support and funding to combat food insecurity in New Jersey – such as Speaker Coughlin’s A5086 raising New Jersey’s SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefit.  

Federation has run community-wide food drives for years with the help of both Jewish and non-Jewish partners including ShopRite, M&T Bank, Bergen County Commissioner Tracy Zur, and the generosity of its volunteers and donors.  This year, Federation collected over 25,000 lbs. of food to donate to organizations fighting hunger everyday across the Bergen, Hudson, Passaic region. However, this donation only begins to scratch the surface of New Jersey’s food insecurity needs. According to Jason M. Shames, Federation CEO, “Seeing 25,000 lbs of food in one room getting packed for distribution is very impactful.  Knowing volunteers gave so generously to support individuals and families they don’t even know illustrates the power of the collective working for the betterment of our community.”   

In 2020, the US Department of Agriculture estimated that 657,320 people in New Jersey were food insecure.¹ The percentage rates of food insecure households Hudson (12.2%) and Passaic (12%) are among the highest in the state and make up two of the three counties that Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey covers.² According to both data and anecdotal evidence from Federation partners like Jewish Family Children Services and the Bergen County Hunger Taskforce, the need for better food and nutritional resources is only rising. 

“Food pantries can’t stay fully stocked and with the impact of inflation and the residual effects of the pandemic, food insecurity is more prevalent than ever.” says Carlos Rodriguez, President, and CEO, of Community Food Bank of New Jersey.  “This is our first experience partnering with Federation and we are thrilled to be one of the recipients of their hard work.” 

Jewish Federation realized that to properly address the food insecurity challenge, we needed to implement two approaches.  One is to continue collecting and distributing food which addresses the “here and now”.  The other is to aggressively work with elected officials to pass legislation that addresses this critical need for the long term.   

This is why Federation has joined with many community organizations, businesses, and elected officials in support of bill A5086, raising the state’s monthly “SNAP” benefit to $95 from $50 and helping over 46,000 of New Jersey’s neediest families get fed. Assemblyman Coughlin said, “Food insecurity is a huge problem and none of us can mitigate the problem alone.  Partnerships amongst organizations, businesses, and elected officials are critical and should become a model for working together to address problems in the future.” 

Please join Federation, Speaker Coughlin, and the community to celebrate a successful collection and call for the need for better funding to combat food insecurity.