Bergen County Nonprofit Gets $187K Gift To 'Rescue' Food, Fight Hunger

TEANECK, NJ — The season of gift-giving saw one Bergen County nonprofit receive nearly $200,000 to rescue food and fight hunger in the state of New Jersey.

Thanks to a hefty donation from Bank of America, Table to Table — a Hasbrouck Heights-based group and New Jersey's first food rescue program — is now $187,500 better equipped to address food security.

“Throughout the years, Bank of America has been an extraordinary corporate partner to Table to Table and other nonprofits throughout the state," Ilene Isaacs, the executive director of Table to Table, told Patch. "During this economic crisis, so many of our neighbors in New Jersey are suffering due to high costs and limited resources. For that reason, this donation will have an even greater impact."

A recent post on the group's Instagram page shows what the donation will mean for food-insecure residents of New Jersey.

"This food is very important to me," says a neighbor named Richard. "Food is very expensive, and I've got six people in my house...We'd be suffering without it."

Table to Table provides 10 meals for every $1 donation it receives by rescuing food that would otherwise be wasted from about 200 donors, such as supermarkets and restaurants, and delivering it to community groups in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties.

The organization says it is fighting a battle that has grown increasingly severe in recent years.

According to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, about 650,000 people in New Jersey face hunger every day with 175,000 of them being children.

New Jersey ranks second in the U.S. for the most significant increase in childhood food insecurity and an estimated 2 million people are food insecure in the state, the group writes.

Adding to the problem is the 12% increase in grocery prices since October 2021—the largest 12-month increase in grocery prices in nearly 42 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Food banks report that they are spending three times more on purchasing food than they did in 2019, according to an October 2022 Consumer Price Index report.

Bank of America also gave a $187,500 gift to the New Jersey charity America’s Grow-a-Row, which provides fresh produce to New Jersey residents in need.

“The need for healthy fresh produce for those faced with food insecurity has grown significantly over the past 3 years and this extremely generous donation from Bank of America will help us greatly as we have expanded our efforts and scaled our production by 60% vs pre-Covid levels," Chip Paillex, the president and founder of America’s Grow-a-Row, told Patch. "Once again, Bank of America has responded to the needs of the community and is heavily investing in local hunger relief organizations like America’s Grow-a-Row that are challenged with keeping up with the demand to feed the thousands of families and individuals struggling to make ends meet, and for that we are extremely grateful.”