Community Soup Kitchen & Outreach Center Raises More than $90,000 at Hunger Walk 2017

Morristown, NJ –As the sun eased out the clouds on Sunday afternoon, more than 900 walkers joined the Community Soup Kitchen & Outreach Center’s Hunger Walk 2017, raising more than $90,000 to fight hunger locally. A wave of green-shirted participants poured onto downtown sidewalks as local families, students, congregation groups, volunteers and corporate teams followed the 5K course around the streets of historic Morristown. All proceeds will help feed and support struggling neighbors – veterans, homeless, working poor as well as our elderly guests.

For Kaitlin McLain, 17, senior at Morristown High School (MHS) who volunteered at the event, helping a local cause makes her service more meaningful. “People don’t realize that hunger is relevant in New Jersey – they think it’s something that only happens in third-world countries,” says the MHS Key Club president. “It’s important to recognize that hunger is prevalent right in our hometown.”

Like Kaitlin, many answered the call to help, making Hunger Walk 2017 a success. Thank you to all who volunteered, donated and participated to keep the doors of the Community Soup Kitchen & Outreach Center open 365 days a year. All funds will directly support crucial CSK programs: daily breakfast and lunch, Free Farmer’s Markets three times a week, meals for local summer camp kids and Outreach Center services to help our guests become self-sufficient.

Sponsors for Hunger Walk 2017 include Northwestern Mutual of Morristown, Peapack-Gladstone Bank, Travelers, Covanta, Crum & Forster, Celebrity Motor Car Company, Investors Bank, Lanca Sales, Morristown Medical Center, Drinker Biddle, The Westin, Blue Morel, Rod’s Steakhouse and Open Road Auto Group.

The Community Soup Kitchen & Outreach Center is a nonprofit organization that receives no government funding. In its 33-year history, the CSK has never missed a day serving meals. Last year, more than 75,000 breakfast and lunches were served and more than 475,000 pounds of food were distributed. So far this year, nearly 6,381 guest referrals were made for social and medical services – more than double the number for 2016. The CSK’s Outreach Center provides daily assistance in our dining room as well as access to mental health professionals, substance abuse counselors, veteran outreach, homeless teen outreach, job counselors, nursing and medical care and English as a Second Language classes. For more information, please visit www.cskmorristown.org.