BY MEGHAN ROBERTS
Staff Writer
A local food collection service is asking the business community to give some extra help to those in need this summer.
The Middlesex County Food Organization and Outreach Distribution Services (MCFOODS) distributes goods to more than 60 pantries throughout the county and serves residents in every municipality. Every summer, it asks area corporations and organizations to hold food drives or collections to help it cope with an increase in demand for food and personal items.
“People don’t think of making donations in the summer,” said Jennifer Apostol, a coordinator for MCFOODS.
Apostol said that people give more during the holiday season because the needy are on their minds, but that “everybody forgets” in the summer.
Another factor is that “children are no longer getting breakfast and lunch in school,” Freeholder Blanquita B Valenti, liason to MCFOODS, said in a press release. The children are fed at home, and families need more from food banks, depleting their stocks, Valenti said.
Community and youth organizations can help the cause by handing out fliers, provided by MCFOODS, to shoppers as they enter the grocery store. The shoppers can then purchase items from a list and donate them on their way out. This has proven to be very successful.
“Many of our area corporations and organizations have been extremely supportive in the past and we look forward to working with them again,” Valenti said.
Businesses can have containers delivered or have a driver pick up food immediately, Apostol said.
Individuals can donate year-round at the libraries in Edison, Milltown, Monroe, North Brunswick, Plainsboro, South Brunswick, Spotswood and Woodbridge, or during the summer at Plays-in-the-Park performances at Roosevelt Park in Edison.
The public can donate grocery store gift certificates in place of monetary contributions.
The most needed items are canned, and nonperishable items such as fruits, meats, vegetables, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, canned tuna, brown rice, and snacks such as crackers and cookies. Also needed are personal products and baby items such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, diapers and wipes.
The next large-scale food drive is scheduled for October.
Corporations, groups, or individuals interested in holding a food drive or other collection event may call Jennifer Apostol, MCFOODS coordinator, at (732) 729-0880 or (609) 409-5033.