Second Annual Women's Luncheon Fights Childhood Hunger

HILLSIDE, NJ—April 5, 2018

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey hosted its Second Annual Women Fighting Hunger Luncheon on Thursday, March 29 at the Hilton Short Hills. Thanks to the generous event sponsorship of Kings Food Markets and the support of the event Chairwomen, table sponsors, and others, the FoodBank raised more than $190,000 to help feed hungry children.

The event was chaired by Cheryl Grabowski, Co-Owner of Harvest Restaurant Group, Wendy Lazarus, Vanessa O’Malley, Liz Pryma, and Judy Spires, CEO of Kings Food Markets.

The Luncheon began at 11 am with a Volunteer Hour sponsored by PNC Bank, during which 280 attendees assembled Family Packs for struggling New Jersey households. The FoodBank distributes more than 2,000 of these supplemental bags of food every Friday to New Jersey children at risk of hunger. Where there’s a hungry child, there’s a hungry household. Each bag contains five to six pounds of nutritious food to support the nourishment of all household members for the entire weekend. Luncheon attendees created more than 900 Family Packs that included pasta, cereal, mixed vegetables, and canned tuna.

The Luncheon continued with a “Chopped” style Chef – vs – Chef challenge between Personal Chef Deborah Caplan and Chef Leia Gaccione, owner of south+pine american eatery in Morristown and central+main in Madison. Three judges—Jersey Bites’ Deborah Smith, New Jersey Monthly’s Shelby Vittek, and the FoodBank’s own Chef Paul Kapner—chose the winning dish made with FoodBank mystery ingredients, delicious chili made by Chef Leia Gaccione. Both chefs’ dishes will be added to the FoodBank’s Kids Cafe menu. Joanna Gagis, Host of “Life & Living” on NJTV and FiOS1 served as the event’s emcee.

“Many of our luncheon attendees are mothers who can’t imagine not being able to feed their children,” said Karen Leies, Vice President of Development at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, “but the unfortunate reality is that nearly one in seven kids in New Jersey faces hunger. Our child feeding programs, including Kids Cafes and Family Packs, provide hungry kids with the nutritious food that they need to lead healthy lives. The FoodBank’s annual Women Fighting Hunger Luncheon is a way for us to raise awareness and funds to support this important work.”

Please contact Nicole Williams, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, at nwilliams@cfbnj.org or 908-355-3663 ext. 282 for additional photos and to learn more about the luncheon.

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey, a member of Feeding America®, provides people across the state with food, help and hope. The FoodBank distributed more than 50 million pounds of food last year to its more than 1,000 community partners including pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, mobile pantries, and child and senior feeding programs. More than 4.7 million times a year, someone in need is fed by the FoodBank’s network of partners. For our neighbors, especially families, and for the volunteers and donors who support them, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey is the powerful change agent that fills the emptiness caused by hunger with the basic human essentials people need to survive.