With Thanksgiving approaching, TSTI members were involved in multiple efforts this week to help fight hunger in our community. On Wednesday, we took our monthly turn at the InterFaith Food Pantry of the Oranges. Every month when we go, there seem to be more people needing help. We distributed groceries to 62 families this week - a significant increase from just a few months ago. While we are so happy that we can help, we are concerned about having a constant source of food items to give out.
On Sunday, we staffed a table at Whole Foods in West Orange, which is running a November food drive to benefit the Pantry. The Pantry receives no government funding, so we rely on food drives and donations to meet the need. That’s why our “Bring One” program is so important. If we (only!) served 60 people a month, we would need 960 cans/boxes of food just for our week’s distribution!
And in between, we were the local site on Saturday for the annual Thanksgiving Turkey and Food Drive for the Community Food Bank on NJ, the central organization that provides food to organizations in 18 of NJ’s 21 counties (the InterFaith Food Pantry is a member organization). We collected 85 turkeys (down a bit from last year, but enough for 1275 turkey dinners) and two large bins of groceries. We also for the first time handed out information about food stamp opportunities and local pantries to the more than 15 cars that stopped and asked if we were handing out (rather than collecting) turkeys.
If you help at the pantry or the Turkey Drive you see evidence of hunger right in our midst. There’s also been news to read about hunger in America recently, and it's unfortunately not good news. According to a study released November 15 by the US Dep't of Agriculture, almost 15 percent of US households lacked enough money to feed themselves at some point last year . What is termed "food insecurity" means that financial constraints caused 17.4 million people (!!!) in this country to skip meals, run low or out of food, or were unable to purchase balanced meals.
6.8 million of these households — with as many as 1 million children — had ongoing financial problems that forced them to miss meals regularly. Read more here.
The Star Ledger ran a front page story this week highlighting how 810,000 NJ residents who live below the poverty line make choices like eating at soup kitchens so their children can eat what’s in the cupboard. "In their own stark words, Jerseyans depict the harsh reality of poverty".
Let’s all be thankful this week that we can share in the bounty of family, friend, and a festive meal. And turn that thanks into action: when you shop for Thanksgiving (or just any day), pick up some extra cans of non-perishable food and drop them in out bins!
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