Hoboken Pantry Founder Tomarazzo Honored For Volunteer Efforts

HOBOKEN, NJ — Toni Tomarazzo started small in 2019 when she started a food pantry in Hoboken to address the food insecurity issues of 96 men living in a community center single room occupancy program.

In the 24 months since, however, Tomarazzo has inspired an army of volunteers to grow the Hoboken Food Pantry into something much larger. Her efforts have not only aided local residents but has helped to grow a needed community program that has now produced more than 18,000 bags of food for those who need it most.

The Hoboken resident and businesswoman was honored on Thursday by local officials who celebrated Tomarazzo, who received the New Jersey State Governor’s Jefferson Award. The award, which recognizes those whose volunteer efforts make their communities better, was given to Tomarazzo in September for her efforts in starting and growing the Hoboken Food Pantry into what it is today.

“I could not think of a more deserving individual to be honored with the Jefferson Award than Toni Tomarazzo,” said Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in a news release. “Through Toni’s commitment and dedication, the Hoboken Food Pantry was a lifeline for residents facing food insecurity during a global pandemic.

"Because of her compassion and the compassion of the volunteers she organized, residents concerned about their health and well-being or where their next paycheck would come from did not need to worry about their next meal. I am honored to know Toni, and I thank her for her relentless service to our City and its residents.”

The Hoboken Food Pantry now serves more than 400 families per month. Tomarazzo has recruited 350 volunteers to work with the pantry and those volunteers have dedicated more than 2,300 hours toward the pantry project along with 1,300 community partners and donors. The pantry also expanded its offerings to provide 100 families with non-food items such as diapers, toiletries and cleaning products on a bi-weekly basis.

“The ability of the (pantry) to serve is due to the unwavering support provided by many individuals and organizations in our community,” Tomarazzo said in the news release. “It has saved, for example, our senior citizens from choosing between medicine or food and has helped families keep nutritious food on the table.”

The Hoboken Community Center Board of Directors voted to recognize Tomarazzo’s efforts with a plaque to be installed on the sidewalk in front of the food pantry. Community Center officials will be applying for a sidewalk plaque from the City of Hoboken to further honor Tomarazzo.

Tomarazzo and food pantry the source items from the Community Food Bank of NJ, Hudson County, and other private and non-profit food resources. What the local pantry is unable to use, she personally delivers to other area shelters and charitable organizations, the news release said.

“Toni’s selfless dedication to address food insecurity in her community represents the very best New Jersey has to offer,” said Gov. Phil Murphy said in the release “Along with her team of hundreds of volunteers and donors, Toni has made an indelible impact on the city of Hoboken and our state. I am grateful for Toni’s outstanding work with the Hoboken Food Pantry and am proud to honor her with the Jefferson Award.”

According to the award’s website, “Honorees of the New Jersey State Governor's Jefferson Award achieve measurable community impact and represent outstanding acts of public service, without the expectation of recognition or compensations. Recipients demonstrate unique vision, dedication and tenacity of heroic proportion and serve as inspiration for others.”

The Jefferson Award was started in 1972 by Jackie Kennedy Onassis and is, according to officials, considered the highest award for volunteer work. Hoboken Councilwomen Jen Giattino and Tiffanie Fisher nominated Tomarazzo for the honor.

Tomarazzo has served as associate general counsel and executive director at UBS, Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company, since 2003, the release said. Prior to joining UBS, she was counsel at Prudential Financial and, before that, a director of enforcement and investment for the American Stock Exchange.

Tomarazzo is a board member of the Hoboken Community Center, Susquehanna University and a longtime member and former chair of the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority. As chairwoman of the authority, she is credited with helping to save the city’s hospital, Hoboken University Medical Center, which was on the verge of closure.

After Hurricane Sandy, she was a board member of the Rebuild Hoboken Relief Fund. Tomarazzo graduated from Susquehanna University in 1984 with a degree in finance and subsequently completed her law degree at Seton Hall University in 2002.

“Toni is the most altruistic human we have ever had the privilege of knowing,” Giattino and Fisher said in a joint statement. “If we all could be a fraction of the woman she is, imagine what our world would be like.

“To us, and I am sure to all who know her, Toni is exactly the person who deserves such an honor.”