Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills Donates Meals

The Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills (JLOSH) expanded its annual Thanksgiving Basket Program to help support more families with children in the Orange School District facing food insecurity. When a child is food insecure, he or she is at risk of going hungry.

Together with its community partners, including Saint Barnabas Medical Center/RWJBarnabas Health, Kings Food Markets, Dun & Bradstreet, local businesses, and area schools, 420 complete Thanksgiving meals have been donated to the Orange School District for distribution to identified families—a basket donation record for the League.

JLOSH’s annual Thanksgiving Basket Program aims to provide a healthy and wholesome holiday meal to families facing food insecurity by supporting those with children on the Free or Reduced Lunch Program in the Orange School District. Through these collective efforts, 420 families in the Orange School District will receive these baskets, helping to feed more than 2,500 individuals.

"What the Junior League brings to the Orange community especially this time of year is a true blessing. The parents are just overwhelmed with the generosity. It’s really special to be able to provide these nutritious meals to the students and to bring this to these households. I’m speechless at times to be part of this ongoing partnership,” said Tyrone Dorsey, Manager of Food Services, Orange School District. “The Junior League has been partners with our school district since 2012, supplying our students and the community with dental supplies, nurses’ pantry items, winter gloves, books, backpacks with school supplies, and so much more. Our students and their families are very appreciative for what they receive from the Junior League."

“We are thrilled to help so many in one of our neighboring communities. Our goal is always to help fill the need, and this year JLOSH is providing 115 additional baskets,” said Kate Farley, President of the Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills. “We want to help alleviate the burden many food insecure families in our service area face and give them the opportunity to enjoy and celebrate a Thanksgiving dinner. We thank our partners, especially Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Kings Food Markets and Dun & Bradstreet, who recognize this need in our communities and support our efforts to reduce the dramatic effects many children may experience when they don’t have enough food to eat.”

Each basket includes a whole frozen turkey, roasting tin, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, two vegetables, cranberry sauce, gravy, and dessert. Together with Saint Barnabas Medical Center/RWJBarnabas Health, JLOSH sought out new basket partners, increased participation from previous, and gathered more goods.

“For the fifth consecutive year, we have had the privilege of partnering with the Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills (JLOSH) on the Thanksgiving Food Drive. This year was especially gratifying as we exceeded our goal of Thanksgiving meals. We began the season with a goal of filling 375 baskets. It is with deep gratitude to all those who donated that we exceeded our goal to reach 420 baskets, reaching approximately 2,500 individuals in the Orange School District. A special thank you to our employees, Livingston Bagel, Supreme Bakery and Sodexo for making this event so successful,” Margie Heller, Administrative Director, Community Health and Outreach, Saint Barnabas Medical Center.

The JLOSH Thanksgiving "trimmings" collection brought in over 3,800 packaged and canned good items. In turn, JLOSH also donated 18 boxes of additional items collected to the St. Joseph's Church Food Panty in Maplewood, a member of the MEND interfaith network of food pantries. And Saint Barnabas/RWJ Barnabas Health donated over 450 food items also collected to the Orange School District Family Pack Program which provides supplemental, nutritious food to children and their families.

JLOSH would like to thank the many Friends of JLOSH for generous donations and its 2018 Basket Community Partners for making this year's basket program possible! A special thank you to Saint Barnabas Medical Center/RWJBarnabas Health for providing 106 turkeys along with securing desserts for each basket and driving for trimming items among its employees, Kings Food Markets for providing 300 turkeys, ShopRite for donating 12 turkeys this year, and to the generous JLOSH members who filled their freezers with turkeys as well! A special thank you to Maplecrest Moves Charities for providing its van to help transport turkeys. In total, 430 frozen turkeys have been donated, providing just over 6,000 servings! Along with the baskets, this translates to over 6,500 pounds of food items hauled.

We are also very appreciative of Dun & Bradstreet who provided critical support by donating nearly 275 meal items for our Thanksgiving Baskets. We also thank ShopRite, barre3 Livingston, Newcomers & Neighbors of Short Hills & Millburn, Livingston Bagel, Supreme Bakery, The Wright Group NY, Moms Helping Moms Foundation, Sodexo, Maplecrest Moves Charities, Alpine Montessori School of Millburn, Christ Church Nursery School, SS Nicholas, Constantine & Helen Greek School, Jefferson Elementary School, Kent Place School Girl Scout Troop 45650, Marshall Elementary School, Millburn Township Elementary and High Schools, and Friends of JLOSH for their individual and tremendous support and donations this year.

Through these efforts and partnerships, JLOSH and its partners are donating approximately $12,600 worth of food to the Orange School District this Thanksgiving.

The Junior League of the Oranges and Short Hills is an organization comprised of women developed as civic and community leaders creating lasting community impact. JLOSH provides service to children living in East Orange, Livingston, Maplewood, Milburn, Orange, Short Hills, South Orange, Springfield and West Orange, and reaches out to women of all races, religions and national origins. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. To learn more about JLOSH, visit JLOSH.org or find it on Facebook.