Teamsters Surprise West Orange Food Pantry With Big Donation

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Teamsters from Local 863 recently surprised the Holy Trinity-West Orange Food Pantry with 11 huge pallets of donations. The items ranged from spiral hams to fruit, vegetables, diapers and non-perishables.

“The last time Local 863 dropped off food it was a modest amount, maybe around 20 cases or so,” pantry administrator Cynthia Cumming said. “So I was expecting about the same, plus a few hams.”

“I was completely overwhelmed to see 25 teamsters show up with 11 pallets of food – several tons' worth,” she laughed.

But according to Teamsters organizer Al Rispoli, when Local 863 makes a donation, it “goes big.”

“We want to thank the Teamsters for their incredible generosity and sense of brotherhood towards those that are struggling in our community,” Cumming added.

Teamsters Local 863 is located in Mountainside. Its members work in the retail sales/distribution/warehousing industry, which includes food services. West Orange resident Patti Nathan and Teamsters administrator Kathy Zizza helped with their latest effort.

The donations will be put to good use, organizers said. In 2019, the pantry provided food for about 6,100 people. In 2020, that number jumped to 41,000 as the pandemic put people out of work and food insecurity soared.

In addition to their Tuesday distributions, the pantry also delivers to senior citizens, quarantined families and people with medical conditions.

The pantry, a nonprofit that works in partnership with the Community Food Bank in Hillside, relies on food and monetary donations to keep the distributions going. Contact Cynthia Cumming at Heidlercumming@aol.com for more information about the pantry and how to donate.

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 about a local organization that should be profiled, contact eric.kiefer@patch.com

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