Middlesex County Patch Holiday Food Drive: Help Feed America

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ — The Patch Holiday Food Drive is raising money for Feeding America and all the food banks, pantries and meal programs across Middlesex County.

According to Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, about 11 percent of Middlesex County's 800,000 residents currently struggle to afford enough to eat.

That's more than 80,000 people in Middlesex County. And the child food insecurity rate in Middlesex County has nearly doubled, up to 18.4 percent from a pre-pandemic level of 10.2 percent, according to Feeding America.

In fact, New Jersey overall saw an additional 432,000 residents need to use food pantries in 2020. Feeding America predicted this would happen as millions of Americans lost their jobs, their paychecks and even their businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic.

You can help. Patch and Feeding America teamed up last summer to address the growing hunger crisis in America. 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.

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 Middlesex County will rise to 11 percent this year, up from 7 percent in 2018.

"More of our New Jersey neighbors than ever before may not have access to holiday meals this year," said Carlos Rodriguez, President & CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

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.

“In a year when food insecurity has increased sharply throughout the state and the rate of food insecurity among children has nearly doubled in Middlesex County, we are incredibly grateful,” said Middlesex County Freeholder Director Ronald Rios.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, MCFOODS has organized food distribution events and food collection events, all contact-free and socially distanced, to combat the severe need in the County. To date, MCFOODS has received and distributed over 3.9 million pounds of food in 2020 as compared with 2.2 million pounds in all of 2019.

Beginning in the closet of a park police building in Roosevelt Park in Edison in 1994, MCFOODS has since expanded into a 5,000 square foot warehouse in East Brunswick. MCFOODS provides nonperishable foods and necessities to our network of over 120 partner organizations throughout the 25 towns in Middlesex County to ensure that all residents always have access to nutritionally adequate food and necessities. In the early years, MCFOODS received and distributed 92,000 pounds of nonperishable foods and necessities to about 30 partner agencies. In 2019, MCFOODS received and distributed over 2.2 million pounds of food including fresh produce, dairy, and meat products to over 130 partners. A database of agencies that can provide emergency food can be found at this link.

Want to help? Here are some Middlesex County food banks:

• SUYDAM STREET REFORMED CHURCH Food Pantry 74 Drift Street New Brunswick, NJ (732) 249-6803
• CALVARY CHAPEL OF OLD BRIDGE Food Pantry 135 White Oak Lane Old Bridge, NJ (732) 679-4837
• St. George's Anglican/New Life Food Pantry Soup Kitchen 56 Main Street Helmetta, NJ (732) 521-0169
• ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN CTR. Food Pantry 2245 Route 130, Ste. 101 Dayton, NJ (732) 983-2468/(732) 355-0225
• ST. PETERS COMM. DEV. CORP Soup Kitchen 505 Main Street Spotswood, NJ (732) 967-4883
• FISH, INC Food Pantry 456 New Market Rd Piscataway, NJ 732-770-5976
• FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF METUCHEN Food Pantry 270 Woodbridge Avenue Metuchen, NJ (732) 491-2300
• JAMES O. BRYANT FOOD PANTRY Food Pantry 58 Poplar Rd. Piscataway, NJ (732) 985-4384
• ALDERSGATE OUTREACH COMMUNITY CENTER Food Pantry 562 Ryers Lane East Brunswick, NJ (732) 613-7220/(732) 313-7632
• St. Paul's Lutheran Church Food Pantry 445 Old Post Road. Edison, NJ (732) 287-0888
• ZION HILL BAPTIST CHURCH Food Pantry 450 Highland Avenue Piscataway, NJ (732) 463-9074
• THE HANDS OF HOPE Food Pantry 2136 Woodbridge Avenue Edison, NJ (732) 236-3330
• NEW DESTINY FOOD PANTRY Food Pantry 1330 Livingston Ave. North Brunswick, NJ (732) 246-8850/ 732 485-3050
• NORTH BRUNSWICK FOOD BANK Food Pantry 710 Herman Rd North Brunswick, NJ (732) 247-0922x 293/732-406394
• SRC FIVE LOAVES FOOD PANTRY Food Pantry 100 College Avenue New Brunswick, NJ (732) 545-1019
• SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DEPAUL C/O Food Pantry 29 Abeel Street New Brunswick, NJ (732) 309-2142
• ELIJAH'S PROMISE Soup Kitchen 18 Neilson Street New Brunswick, NJ (732) 545-9002 x 116
• NEW BRUNSWICK ENGLISH SDS CHURCH Food Pantry 339 Livingston Avenue New Brunswick, NJ (732) 745-4858
• CHRIST CHURCH FOOD PANTRY Food Pantry 5 Paterson Street New Brunswick, NJ (732) 545-6262 x11
• Mount Calvary Missionary Church Food Pantry 150/154 Throop Ave. New Brunswick, NJ (732) 296-9000
• BAYARD STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Food Pantry 107 Bayard Street New Brunswick, NJ (732) 247-0384
• St. Alban's Episcopal Church Food Pantry 148 Lee. Ave. New Brunswick, NJ (914) 426-2896
• EMANUEL EVANG. LUTHERAN CHURCH Food Pantry 1-3 Kirkpatrick Street New Brunswick, NJ (732) 545-2673
• EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH Soup Kitchen 126 Lee Avenue New Brunswick, NJ (732) 247-2459
• SALVATION ARMY - NEW BRNWK Food Pantry 287 Handy St. New Brunswick, NJ (732) 545-1477