Need Food? Fulfill Puts Finding Pantry Locations Just A Text Away

TOMS RIVER, NJ — By 10 a.m. Friday there was a line of vehicles in the parking lot at South Toms River Elementary School. Cars. Minivans. SUVs. All waiting for the food distribution to begin at the elementary school.

The line was so long that by the time the truck delivering emergency food kits to families in the borough arrived, it was threatening to spill out onto Dover Road, volunteers said later.

In 30 minutes, the 90 boxes — packed with food to last multiple days — were gone, and volunteers were forced to turn yet more needy families away.

It's a reflection of the dire circumstances faced by so many families in the midst of the crisis surrounding the outbreak of the new coronavirus: thousands of people suddenly laid off, and five weeks into New Jersey's stay-at-home order, finding themselves needing to feed their families, and with no income to accomplish that.

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For many caught up in this crisis, needing to seek the help of government assistance programs and food pantries is new territory. Who do you turn to? Where can you get help? Where can you get just a little bit of food, so your children don't have to go without?

Organizers with Fulfill hope to make that question a bit easier to answer, with the addition of its "FindFood" text message system. It is the first of its kind in New Jersey and the tri-state area.

The system is simple. Text "findfood" (all one word, no space) to 888-918-2729. A text reply will ask for your ZIP code. Reply with your ZIP code, and you will receive information on the three food pantries closest to your ZIP code.

The text system also responds to "comida" for those who speak Spanish, and will reply with answers in Spanish, officials with Fulfill said.

Since the coronavirus outbreak began in Ocean and Monmouth counties, Fulfill has seen a 40 percent increase in the demand for food and has served more than 364,000 extra meals in the past month through its Crisis Relief Boxes program and its Restaurant Partnership Program.

That is in addition to the food Fulfill was already distributing, officials said.

Toms River's crisis relief box distribution has been a case in point. The first week of the "Pop The Trunk" program, there were just shy of 350 boxes distributed at five sites, said Stacy Georgaklis, public information officer for Toms River. Each box provides multiple days of food for families.

On April 17, the third week of the program 600 were distributed in less than an hour, including some that were delivered to homebound Toms River residents, she said. In addition to the distribution at South Toms River Elementary, crisis food kits are being distributed at Walnut Street Elementary School, Joseph A. Citta Elementary School, East Dover Elementary School, and in the 3rd Avenue parking lot in Ortley Beach.

The "Pop The Trunk" partnership grew out of an effort to try to support children in the Toms River Regional School District who receive breakfast and lunch through the federally funded free and reduced-price lunch program.

"When the schools were closed due to COVID-19, Fulfill offered to provide these children and their families dinners for the week," Fulfill officials said.

Soon after, Kim Guadagno, the former lieutenant governor who now is CEO of Fulfill, attended a Toms River council meeting to offer additional support to Toms River families.

"Toms River is the largest municipality in Ocean County, and Fulfill is here to serve families there and throughout our service area during this critical time and beyond," Guadagno said. "Never has the need been so dire."

Fulfill will have distributed more than 18,000 crisis food kits across Monmouth and Ocean after Friday's deliveries, officials said.

Even with those efforts, Fulfill officials know there are people who will be searching for help. They are hopeful the text messaging system will answer some prayers and fill some bellies.

"If you’ve just lost your job and you are struggling to put food on the table for your family, the last thing you want to do is hunt around for a food pantry," Guadagno said. "We want to make it as easy as possible for people in need to find a food pantry that’s convenient and open. Now, that information is available to them in the palm of their hands."

"This is a major milestone for food access to all at a critical time," she said.

Fulfill works with dozens of organizations in Monmouth and Ocean to feed those who are food insecure, serving pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens. It has provided hot meals for children after school when schools were open, and sent food home for those same children over the weekend during the school year.

Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

Before the pandemic, Fulfill, which operates offices at the B.E.A.T. Center in Toms River, in connection with the JBJ Soul Kitchen on Hooper Avenue, also provided services to help residents improve their overall situation. Among the services it offered were assistance with tax preparation, connecting people to SNAP (food stamps) benefits, and job training in the culinary program. Those programs are on hold during the state's stay-at-home order.

For those looking to help others, Fulfill welcomes donations to assist its efforts to feed those in need. Donations can be made on the Fulfill website, and $30 funds a crisis relief kit. The organization says 95 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to feeding the hungry in the community.

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