South Edison Community Association Does Food Drive

EDISON, NJ — The South Edison Community Association (SECA) is spearheading a non-perishable food drive on Saturday, May 9 to help the “Hands of Hope” Food Pantry in South Edison.

Their shelves are exhausted. The coronavirus pandemic has put more local people out of work and more families are struggling.

Non-perishable food donations will be accepted from Noon–4 pm, Saturday, May 9 at Edison High School, on Boulevard of the Eagles, off Old Post Road. SECA volunteers will be on hand to help.

The food pantry, based at St. James Episcopal Church on Woodbridge Avenue, needs canned vegetables, fruits and soups; canned tuna and hams; boxes of pasta, rice and macaroni and cheese, boxes of potato flakes and baking mix; cereals and oatmeal; bottled tomato sauce and other gravy flavors.

“The coronavirus pandemic is creating a greater need for food from Hands of Hope. With more people jobless or temporarily furloughed, more local families are now struggling. The demand on our local food pantry is rising,” said Middlesex County Freeholder Charles Tomaro, a longtime food pantry volunteer.

Hands of Hope annually provides bags of nourishing foods to nearly 4,000 needy Edison-area households, including senior citizens, veterans and people with disabilities. It provides hot lunches to 4,500 needy people yearly; and it distributes 300-350 turkeys and food bags at Thanksgiving and Christmas; plus it serves over 500 meals at Easter.

“The South Edison Community Association is getting tremendous support from a diverse group of generous local organizations. We are grateful so many amazing partners have pledged to help for our neediest neighbors,” said SECA organizer Anthony Russomanno. “We hope individual residents and families will also contribute non-perishable foods on May 9th to help re-stock our local food pantry’s shelves.”

In lieu of food donations, make contributions by check or money order to Hands of Hope, NJ; P.O. Box 1057, Edison, NJ 08818. Learn more about the South Edison Community Association at www.SouthEdisonCommunityAssoci... . To volunteer, call (732) 261-7172 or email SouthEdisonCommunityAssoc@gmail.com