Patch Holiday Food Drive In Gloucester County

GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ — Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, predicted this would happen as millions of Americans lost their jobs, their paychecks and even their businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic: Hunger is an urgent problem for about 37,000 people in Gloucester County.

You can help. Patch and Feeding America teamed last summer to address the growing hunger crisis in America, connecting readers with the organization’s 200 member food banks that serve 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, and providing an easy way to donate money to help their neighbors.

Now through Dec. 31, we’re encouraging readers to make a tax-deductible contribution to Feeding America in the Patch Holiday Food Drive. Every $1 given to the organization buys 10 meals.

Local resources include:

• The Samaritan Center of Glassboro Food Bank, 123A E. High Street, Glassboro;
• Greater Woodbury Cooperative Ministries Food Pantry at Woodbury Seventh Day Adventist Church, 330 E. Barber Ave., Woodbury;
• Paulsboro Community Development Center, 1540 Swedesboro Ave., Paulsboro;
• Catholic Charities, 1200 Delsea Dr. #1, Westville;
• Food Distribution Center Fresh Food For All At Paulsboro Moose Lodge, 402 Cook Ave., Paulsboro;
• United Way of Gloucester County, 454 Crown Point Road, Thorofare;
• North Baptist Church, 1020 N. Evergreen Ave., Woodbury;
• First Baptist Church, 30 N. Broadway, Pitman;
• Faith Fellowship Church, Glassboro;
• Gloucester County Division of Social Services, 400 Holly Dell Dr., Sewell;
• Apostles Lutheran Church, 4401 Route 42, Turnersville;
• Clonmell United Methodist Church, 516 W. Broad Street, Gibbstown;
• Greater Promise, 25 Academy Street, Glassboro;
• First Baptist Church, 110 S. Delsea Dr., Clayton;
• New Life in Christ Ministries, 895 Delsea Dr., Franklinville;
• Spoken Word Evangelistic Church, 667 S. Evergreen Ave., Woodbury Heights;
• Revival Center of Woodbury, 1023 N. Evergreen Ave., Woodbury;
• Life Church, 1509 N. Main Street, Williamstown;
• Bethel United Methodist Church, 481 Delsea Dr., Sewell;
• St. Matthews Baptist Church, 245 Glassboro Road, Williamstown;
• St. John's United Methodist Church, 149 Ganttown Road, Turnersville;
• Colonial Manor United Methodist Church, 56 Elberne Ave., West Deptford;
• Deptford Church of God, 1076 Mail Ave., Deptford;
• St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 16 E. Broad Street, Paulsboro;
• Family Promise of Gloucester County, 206 Ellis Street, Glassboro;
• Visions Christian Center, 812 N. Delaware Street, Paulsboro;
• Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce, 205 Rowan Boulevard, Glassboro;
• Church of the Incarnation, 240 Main Street, Mantua;
• Volunteers of America, 355 Union Street, Glassboro;
• Kingdom Glory Ministries, 736 Davinci Way, Williamstown;
• Our Lady of Peace Parish, 32 Carroll Ave., Williamstown;
• Ypatt, 284 Cedar Road, Mullica Hill;
• New Brooklyn United Methodist Church, 1336 E. Malaga Road, Williamstown;
• Mt. Carmel Ame Church, 126 Gill Ave., Paulsboro;
• St. Paul's Unted Methodist Church, 74 Church Street, West Deptford;
• First Baptist Church, 428 Harrisonville-Ferril Road, Mullica Hill;
• Cecil Tabernacle Church, 1110 Coles Mill Road, Williamstown;
• Springs-Hope Christian Ministries, 31 Poplar Street, Williamstown;
• Holiness Worship Center, 1480 N. Tuckahoe Road, Williamstown; and
• St. Michael The Archangel, 49 W. North Street, Clayton.

Feeding America predicted last summer that 50 million people, including 17 million children, could face hunger by year’s end because of the pandemic. Feeding America projects the food insecurity rate in Gloucester County will rise to 12.6 percent in 2020, up from 7.8 percent in 2018.

Feeding America says that 80 percent of its food banks — or 4 in 5 — are serving more people than they were at the same time last year. With the pandemic worsening during the holiday season, many people who never before worried about how they’d pay for a holiday meal are turning to food banks for the first time.

From the beginning of the pandemic in March, Feeding America distributed 4.2 billion meals — enough to provide every U.S. resident with breakfast, lunch and dinner for just over four days.

In the first four months of the pandemic, 4 in 10 people were first-time visitors to food banks, according to Feeding America.

How To Support The Patch Holiday Food Drive

Patch has teamed with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.