Wayne Students Give Back This Thanksgiving With Donations To WIN

WAYNE, NJ — Students at the Primrose School of Wayne kicked off their Thanksgiving celebrations by giving back this year.

According to a spokesperson for the school, prekindergarten and kindergarten students gave two rounds of canned goods and other foods to the Wayne Interfaith Network Food Pantry through the school’s annual Caring & Giving Food Drive.

"While things look a little different this year and students weren’t able to visit the grocery store as a class to collect their donations, the children still had the opportunity to learn and practice giving back firsthand while developing math, planning and nutrition skills," a spokesperson for Primrose said in an email to Patch.

Known throughout the area as WIN, the pantry has been aiding residents in supplementing their food supply for years, but, amid the coronavirus pandemic, have seen an increase in demand for assistance and a decline in donations.

Initially serving around 130 clients before the pandemic, the food pantry saw demand for aid jump to record highs of close to 170 clients during the summer as the coronavirus lingered. Now, WIN leadership said they're expecting to see another jump in need.

"Many of our clients have been food insecure for a long time and the pandemic made it worse," said WIN co-President Barbara Cohen. "Many others are so far behind in their other bills that our help with food frees them up to try and pay off their bills."

READ MORE: In Wayne, WIN Food Pantry Sees More Requests, Fewer Donations

WIN isn't the only food pantry seeing additional demand.

On a Zoom call with Congressman Josh Gottheimer Tuesday, Center For Food Action Communications Director Kelly Sirimoglu said the organization has seen a 50 percent increase in food assistance requests since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bergen County Commissioner Tracy Zur, who is also the Liaison to the Bergen County Food Security Task Force, reported that, across Bergen County, there has been a 71 percent increase in food insecurity.

Zur said that means about 25,000 families in the county are food insecure, which means about "one in six kids" are dealing with food insecurity.

"Not only is the COVID-19 crisis continuing to ravage our community, it’s continuing to exacerbate food insecurity levels across North Jersey as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday this week," said Gottheimer on the call.

However, there are anecdotal examples of local groups, organizations and private citizens offering their help, especially as the holidays approach.

"Two Wayne synagogues, Shomrei Torah and Temple Beth Tikvah, recently sponsored their annual High Holiday non-perishable food and basic necessities drives amid the restraints and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic," WIN announced, in a recent news release.

"These essential annual drives are vital in helping to stock the WIN food pantry for the coming winter months."

Donations are, of course, being accepted from the community too.

Anyone wishing to donate non-perishable food may do so by appointment only at this time. For more information about WIN, and to see a list of what the pantry needs most, visit www.winfoodpantry.org.

If you'd like to donate specifically for Thanksgiving, the pantry asks that checks or supermarket gift cards be sent to Wayne Interfaith Network, PO Box 3341, Wayne NJ 07474-3341.

This story is part of Patch's Headlining Hope series, which profiles local nonprofits and charitable organizations in need of volunteers and resources. If you know of a local organization that should be profiled, contact montana.samuels@patch.com.