On behalf of the Jackson Women of Today and the food pantry staff, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents of Jackson for the generosity shown at our recent Thanks-giving holiday distribution.
The Junior ROTC cadets and their advisers from Jackson Memorial High School organized a huge food drive, delivered, sorted and stocked the pantry shelves. A Sassafras Brownie Troop made candy goodie bags to distribute to our clients. Members of the Kiwanis and the Key Club collected food, bagged, pushed carts and donated ShopRite gift cards and the Jackson Police Department sent certificates for 10 prepared turkey dinners from ShopRite.
Over 375 residents attended the distribution with 135 families given turkeys and the trimmings along with a five-day supply of food at our facility on Nov. 20. Twenty turkeys and 35 decorated boxes of food were delivered by the Crawford-Rodriguez School staff and students along with the Goetz Middle School food drive supplies and another sent by the Immanuel Lutheran Church. We also had received donations from the Scouting for Food Drive, the Switlik School K-Kids and the Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood.
The Jackson Knights of Columbus on Bartley Road gave a monetary donation which will be put to good use for our Christmas pantry distribution.
During our community open house on Nov. 16, several Scout troops brought in holiday baskets that they collected for their community service badges and many residents stopped by to drop off their "free" turkeys and visit the pantry. Several anonymous donations were received that day — both monetary and food.
ShopRite and Foodtown stores held turkeys donated by their customers for us and many special thanks to Farley’s ice cream for storing our overload.
The night of our distribution found volunteers not only from our Jackson Women of Today, but other community organizations, too, including the Optimist Club of Jackson, the Kiwanis Club, Alpha Delta Kappa Teachers’ Sorority, the Jackson Rotary, the National Honor Society, Key Club, JROTC Cadets and the Winding Ways Singles Club.
The community response was overwhelming to say the least and I am sure that I may have missed someone, but please know that the Jackson food pantry thanks you all.
On Nov. 20, our shelves and freezers were totally stocked; by 7 p.m. that evening, the shelves were much emptier but a sense of satisfaction was felt by all the volunteers. How wonderful it was to have our high school students working side by side with many adult volunteers of all ages.
It will soon be time to begin our Christmas and holiday drive, and we only look forward to the community support during this month, too. For information and holiday hours, please call (732) 683-9119.
We must remember that our neighbors are hungry 12 months of the year, not just at the holiday times. The Jackson Women of Today are trying to make a difference in our community, but we can only be successful with everyone’s support. Thank you again Jackson residents.
Elizabeth Stelevich
Food Pantry Director
Jackson Women of Today
Jackson