Your Neighbors Need Your Help

Hurricane Irene has left local emergency food supplies low–at a time when food pantries and soup kitchens already were stretched thin.

Local food agencies like Elijah’s Promise in New Brunswick, The Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton, the South Brunswick Food Pantry, RISE of Hightstown, Skeet’s Pantry in Cranbury, Homefront in Lawrence and others need our help to help our neighbors make it from day to day and week to week.

Patch will be working with local food pantries and soup kitchens in the coming months to raise their profiles in the community and enlist community support for their missions. We will be hosting events and lending our site to the groups fighting hunger in an effort to keep the issue—one of the most important facing Americans today—squarely within the public eye.

“In central N.J. and across the nation,” reports Elijah’s Promise, “the numbers of people facing ‘food insecurity’—those without an assured ability to acquire nutritious foods in socially acceptable ways-- are growing. One in seven Americans are considered ‘food insecure,’ the highest number in decades.”

Nationally, according to the New Brunswick soup kitchen, there are 49.1 million people who live in food insecure households—a terrifying 35.6 percent increase from the 36.2 million in 2007. About one in 10 New Jersey households are food insecure.

“In central N.J., those in need are our own neighbors—senior citizens on fixed incomes, single-parent families, the unemployed, and the working poor—who struggle to make ends meet,” Elijah’s Promise writes on its website. “They are young and old, living in families or alone.”

And this was before the hurricane hit.

"One of our workforce development program participants, a single mom with four children, now has a partially collapsed ceiling and other water damage and has no other place to stay,” says Carolyn Biondi, interim executive director for the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton. “We are working to help her get necessary repairs made and to connect her with emergency housing."

The organization—and all of the others—desperately need both food and monetary donations to help them continue to serve their growing client list. The economy, after all, is showing now signs of turning around.

"As we are all too aware, Hurricane Irene caused major disruption and for some families, dislocation in Mercer County,” says Biondi says. “Our low-income neighbors across the county will need to replenish food supplies after power outages, so food donations will be greatly appreciated.”

Consider making a contribution to or volunteering with any of the following organizations: 

CRISIS MINISTRY OF PRINCETON AND TRENTON

Site 1: 123 E. Hanover Street, Trenton, NJ 08608
Site 2: 61 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08542
Mail: 123 E. Hanover Street, Trenton, NJ 08608
Phone: 609-396-9355 x26
Email: marciam@thecrisisministry.org
Website: www.thecrisisministry.org
Hours: Mon-Fri: 9am-12pm, closed 1st week; See calendar on website.
Contact: Director of Food Service, Mark Smith
This site provides groceries to low income people.
Food Needs: low fructose/low salt non-perishable items, fresh & frozen food
Volunteer Needs: individuals to stock shelves, make home food deliveries, and work at the center one Sat per month
Volunteer Requirements: volunteers under age 14 must be accompanied by adult (Contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Elizabeth Ferguson atcmvolunteer@gmail.com or 609-396-9355 x24.)
Special Needs: funding, food, and volunteers to help on projects as well as for weekly jobs

EAST TRENTON CENTER

Site: 601 North Clinton Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08638
Phone: 609-393-8009 ext. 221
Email: lleonard@habitatnj.org
Hours: Pantry - Mon, Tues, Wed: 10am-1pm
Narcotics Anonymous Program: every Fri night
Contact: Liz Leonard
This site provides a food pantry, clothing distribution when available, an after school learning lab, a Narcotics Anonymous Program and a winter homeless overflow program.
Food Needs: canned food, juice
Special Needs: a small van to pick up food & carry it to a homeless feeding site, diapers & wipes 

HOMEFRONT

Site: 1880 Princeton Ave., Lawrenceville, NJ 08648-4518

Phone: (609) 989-9417
Fax: (609) 989-9423

Email: getinvolved@homefrontnj.org

URL: http://www.homefrontnj.org

HomeFront provides services for the poor and homeless in Princeton, Lawrenceville, Ewing and Trenton, including emergency shelter and transitional and service-enriched, affordable housing. Its mission is to meet the immediate needs of food, shelter and safety and to help troubled families break from the cycle of poverty.

Needs: Twin & Full Size Mattress & Box Springs with Frames, Bunk Beds, Dressers (Small and Medium Size), Small Dinette Tables and Chairs, Small Sofas and Love Seats,  Gently Used Clean Clothing in bags and/or on hangers and in bags, Gently Used Clean Bedding (Twin & Full Size Sheets),

TVs. Contact warehouse@homefrontnj.org or call: 609-989-9417, ext. 127, for more information.

LAWRENCE COMMUNITY CENTER

Site: 295 Eggerts Crossing Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Phone: 609-883-3379
Email: lawrencecomctr@homefrontnj.org
Website: www.homefrontnj.org

Pantry Hours: 1st and 3rd Thurs. 12-4pm
Contact: Christine Lee
This site provides a pantry, social services, and a summer camp.
Food Needs: canned food 
Volunteer Needs: teacher assistant, food sorters, packers
Special Needs: funding, diapers

RESCUE MISSION OF TRENTON

Site: 98 Carroll Street, Trenton, NJ 08609
Mailing address: P.O. Box 790, Trenton, NJ 08605
Phone: 609-695-1436 ext. 139
Email: See website.
Website: www.rescuemissionoftrenton.org
Hours: Shelter - 365 days per year: 4pm-8am
Soup Kitchen - Sun: 11am-12pm; 5th Sat of each month: 11am-12pm
Contact: Joyce Williams
This site provides an emergency shelter, food and clothing to homeless individuals.
Food Needs: perishable and non-perishable food
Volunteer Needs: workers to secure hygiene items for the homeless
Special Needs: funding for agency operation

SALVATION ARMY

Site: 575 E. State Street, Trenton, NJ 08601
Mail: P.O. Box 60, Trenton, NJ 08601
Phone: 609-599-9373
Hours: Office and Day Center - Mon-Fri: 8am-4pm
Contact: Captain John Ferreira
This site provides a day center for the homeless, a children's program, and Christmas baskets. NO food pantry at this site.
Volunteer Needs: help with youth programs
Volunteer Requirements: age 18 or older
Special Needs: funding

TRENTON AREA SOUP KITCHEN (TASK)

Site: 72 1/2 Escher Street, Trenton, NJ 08605
Mail: P.O. Box 872, Trenton, NJ 08605
Phone: 609-695-5456 ext. 101

Email: dennism@trentonsoupkitchen.org
Website: www.trentonsoupkitchen.org
Hours: Mon-Thurs: 9am-5pm; Fri: 9am-1pm
Contact: Dennis C. Micai
This site provides a soup kitchen, clothing, social services, and adult education.
Food Needs: everything
Volunteer Needs: people to work on the serving line and to do pantry support and tutors for adult education program.
Volunteer Requirements: age 13 or over

 ELIJAH'S PROMISE

Site: 18 Neilson Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: 732-545-9002
Email: lfinston@elijahspromise.net (Lisanne Finston)
dlapp@elijahspromise.net (Diana Lapp) 
Website: www.elijahspromise.org.www.elijahspromise.net 
Hours: Mon-Fri: 8am-7pm; Sat & Sun: 10am-5pm
Contact: Lisanne Finston, Executive Director (extension 111)
Diana Lapp, Donations and Volunteer Coordinator (extension 117)
This site provides a soup kitchen, clothing, health and services outreach for people with HIV/AIDS.
Food Needs: meats, staples, non-perishables
Volunteer Needs: Contact site.
Special Needs: paper supplies