‘Real Housewives’ Star, Gov. Murphy Volunteer At Bergen MLK Event

ENGLEWOOD, NJ – A volunteer service initiative on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Englewood drew Gov. Phil Murphy, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Jackie Goldschneider and New York Jets player Blake Cashman.

On Monday, they joined hundreds of other volunteers at the Center for Food Action with assembling snack packs to help hungry children. Over the holiday weekend, the Center for Food Action coordinated ten packing events, which included local officials, organizations, professional athletics and area business leaders in Englewood and Paramus.

The packs, according to the center’s executive director Patricia Espy, will be distributed to local school children who are at risk for weekend hunger. Each pack contained a milk box, juice box, canned pasta, canned fruit, cereal, a box of macaroni and cheese, two packs of raisins and a card explaining the contents to the parents.

The effort was organized as part of a larger, nationwide initiative to mark Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Now in its 25th year, the MLK Day of Service encourages Americans to improve communities through volunteer service.

On Monday, Murphy said, “Dr. King is mostly remembered for fighting against the evils of racism and hatred, but often overlooked is his advocacy against inequality and hunger. On the 25th annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, there is no better place to honor Dr. King’s legacy than with the Center for Food Action. No child should go hungry in our state or our nation, and today I am proud to volunteer along with so many others to provide weekend snack packs for children at risk of hunger.”

The Englewood-based non-profit also seeks to provide food, housing, utility and heating assistance, along with counseling and advocacy services to low-income individuals and families in northern New Jersey.

The Center for Food Action has sites in Hackensack, Ringwood, Mahwah and Saddle Brook, as well as a site at Bergen Community College’s Paramus campus.