Towns Rally To Collect Food For Neptune's Jersey Shore Dream Center

TINTON FALLS, NJ — One of the missions of the Jersey Shore Dream Center in Neptune is to combat hunger and food insecurity, and a food drive has been organized in the 11th Legislative District to help the center's work.

Assemblywomen Kim Eulner and Marilyn Piperno, both R-Monmouth, with offices in Tinton Falls, are partnering with several municipalities in their district to collect food items.

The food drive will run through Oct. 2, with donations scheduled for delivery on Oct. 4 to the Jersey Shore Dream Center. Donations can be dropped off at each municipality's town hall or administration building, the district office says.

"We are thrilled to join efforts with The Jersey Shore Dream Center, whose mission to give hope to the hopeless, food to the hungry, clothes to the needy, and freedoms to those bound by addiction and life-controlling issues is inspiring," the legislators said in a joint statement.

"Food insecurity is an issue plaguing too many families around our district, the state, and the country," they said.

Participating municipalities are: Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Freehold Borough, Long Branch, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township and Tinton Falls.

According to Fulfill, the food distribution center that supports Monmouth County food pantries, one in every four or five homes must pay half their income or more just for housing, leaving many to choose between paying for enough food, housing, heat, utilities or medical care in Monmouth or Ocean counties. In 2020 alone, an estimated one in eight Americans were food insecure, equating to over 38 million Americans, including almost 12 million children.

"It is so encouraging to see us all come together for such an important initiative that allows us to say, 'help is on the way' to one more child, a family, or a deserving adult struggling with hunger," Eulner and Piperno said.

Here are items that can be donated:

• Meal bars and granola bars
• Soups & stews (not condensed)
• All snacks - chips, cookies, pretzels, crackers, etc.
• Shelf-stable milk (both regular and plant-based)
• Easy-mac and other microwaveable or shelf-stable meals.
• Peanut Butter, jelly, etc.
• Canned chicken, ham, or other meats.
• Pasta and ramen, rice
• Cereal
• Ready-to-drink protein shakes (such as Ensure, Muscle Milk, or Orgain)
• Dried fruit, beef jerky, etc.
• Canned pasta, such as Spaghetti-O's and ravioli
• Can openers
• Toiletries (deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body wash).

Assemblywomen Eulner and Piperno represent the 11th Legislative District in New Jersey's General Assembly, comprised of the following municipalities in Monmouth County: Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Interlaken, Loch Arbour, Long Branch, Neptune City, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls, and West Long Branch.

If you require assistance or have any suggestions or ideas to help the district, contact the 11th Legislative District Assembly office at 732-268-8968 or email District11Help@njleg.org.