Patch Holiday Food Drive In Essex County: Give To Feeding America

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, predicted this would happen as millions of Americans lost their jobs, their paychecks and even their businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic: Hunger is projected to become an urgent problem for about 144,614 people in Essex County by the end of 2020.

You can help. Patch and Feeding America teamed last summer to address the growing hunger crisis in America, connecting readers with the organization’s 200 member food banks that serve 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, and providing an easy way to donate money to help their neighbors.

Now through Dec. 31, we’re encouraging readers to make a tax-deductible contribution to Feeding America in the Patch Holiday Food Drive. Every $1 given to the organization buys 10 meals.

Some local resources include:

BELLEVILLE

• LITTLE ZION U.A.M.E. CHURCH

BLOOMFIELD

• PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

CEDAR GROVE

• BUDDHIST TZU CHI FOUNDATION

EAST ORANGE

• EAST ORANGE COMM. DEV. CORP.
• ISAIAH HOUSE
• BETHLEHEM FRENCH SDA CHURCH
• PENTECOST FOOD PANTRY
• SALEM SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST
• BETHLEHEM COMMUNITY CHURCH
• JOI'S ANGELS
• IMANI BAPTIST CHURCH
• CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH
• SALVATION ARMY-EAST ORANGE
• PEACEFUL ZION BAPTIST CHURCH
• NEW EPHESUS BAPTIST CHURCH

IRVINGTON

• URBAN RENEWAL CORP. - (HALFWAY HOUSE)
• CHURCH WOMEN UNITED PANTRY

MONTCLAIR

• TONI'S KITCHEN @ ST. LUKES CHURCH
• HUMAN NEEDS FOOD PANTRY
• SALVATION ARMY - MONTCLAIR
• FIRST 7TH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH

NEWARK

• BELUAH GROVE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP.
• LOVE OF JESUS FAMILY CHURCH OF BELLEVILLE
• MEN AND WOMEN OF VALOR
• CHURCH OF THE ETERNAL GOD
• NEWARK SPANISH 7TH DAY ADVENTIST
• BROADWAY HOUSE
• MT. ZION BAPTIST CHURCH
• BETHEL ASSEMBLY OF GOD
• HOUSE OF LOVE SOUP KITCHEN
• FIRST HOPEWELL BAPTIST CHURCH
• HAITIAN BAPTIST CHURCH OF THE CROSSROADS
• IGLESIA SHALOM BAPTIST CHURCH
• NEW UNITED NEIGHBORS DEV. CHILDCARE CENTER
• ROSEVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
• BETHANY BAPTIST CHURCH PANTRYEBEN-EZER FOOD
• PANTRY
• ST. JOHN BAPTIST CHURCH
• JEHOVAH JIREH PRAISE & WORSHIP
• TRINITY U.A.M.E.
• UNITED COMMUNITY CORPORATION
• NEW BORN HOLY CHURCH
• FIRST LOVE MINISTRIES
• SALVATION ARMY - NEWARK
• F.O.C.U.S.
• FRANCISCAN CHARITIES
• THE APOSTLE'S HOUSE
• HOGAR CREA -NEWARK
• REVIVAL TEMPLE
• IGREJA EVANGELICA VIDA NOVA

NUTLEY

• VINCENT UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
• NUTLEY FAMILY SERVICES

ORANGE

• EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH
• HELPING HANDS AND EARS
• INTERFAITH FOOD PANTRY OF THE ORANGES
• CHURCH OF EPIPHANY OUTREACH
• MT. OLIVE CHURCH OF GODMEND
• IGLESIA CRISTIANA EVANGELIO CO
• MANNA FROM HEAVEN-ST. MATTHEWS
• LOVE OF JESUS MINISTRIES
• S.D.A. CHURCH OF THE ORANGES

SOUTH ORANGE

• OHEB SHALOM CONG

WEST ORANGE

• HOLY TRINITY-WEST ORANGE FOOD PANTRY

Feeding America predicted last summer that 50 million people, including 17 million children, could face hunger by year’s end because of the pandemic. Feeding America projects the food insecurity rate in Essex County will rise to 18.1 percent in 2020, up from 12.7 percent in 2018.

"There's a lack of food," Cheryl Riley, the director of Mercy House in Newark recently said. "In the first few weeks when we reopened, we were bone dry – there was nothing."

"We're wiped out of all our clothes," Riley continued. "Everything. Bedding. We had people that were counting on us to help get small household items, and everything came to a halt."

People power is also needed according to the Human Needs Food Pantry in Montclair, which put out a call for volunteers in September.

Some Essex County residents have set up their own networks to help those in need, such as in the Caldwells, where a "neighbor brigade" has been helping seniors do their shopping amid the pandemic.

"One senior received her groceries on the day of her 93rd birthday," a volunteer said. "She told her volunteer that the act of kindness was the best birthday present she could ever ask for."

Needing a helping hand is never something to be embarrassed about, according to the owners of a Livingston restaurant which has been offering free meals to local families in need.

"What's understood never has to be explained," the owners of Calabria Restaurant and Pizzeria said.

Feeding America says that 80 percent of its food banks — or 4 in 5 — are serving more people than they were at the same time last year. With the pandemic worsening during the holiday season, many people who never before worried about how they’d pay for a holiday meal are turning to food banks for the first time.

From the beginning of the pandemic in March, Feeding America distributed 4.2 billion meals — enough to provide every U.S. resident with breakfast, lunch and dinner for just over four days.

In the first four months of the pandemic, 4 in 10 people were first-time visitors to food banks, according to Feeding America.

Patch has teamed with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.

This article contains reporting from the Patch national desk

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