As the need rises, volunteers roll up their sleeves
By Pat Summers Special Writer
Picture 14 full-size SUVs filled with food. That’s equivalent to the 34 tons of food collected for the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton’s food store since December 2008 by one organization — “Yes We CAN!” Food Drives, a volunteer group dedicated to alleviating hunger in Mercer County.
Imagine bags of food placed side by side for 12.8 miles, or the distance between Princeton and Trenton. That too represents how much food the group has realized in donations through their supermarket food drives.
Besides the food itself, volunteers also collected $2,000 from shoppers who chose that way to help. One woman said she wrote out her $250 check while waiting in the market checkout line.
All this, in the interest of relieving hunger in our area. And yes, Virginia, there’s definitely hunger here, in Princeton as well as Trenton. Just imagine, “in this day and age,” anyone, starting with children, going to bed hungry. It’s intolerable — and yet it’s happening.
The number of people needing food assistance began to rise during the summer of 2008, when the economy headed south. Although at some food pantries it has lately leveled off, numbers are still higher than before summer ‘08.
Yes, they can — and indeed they do
“Yes We CAN!” began with an organizing team for Barack Obama before last year’s presidential election. The Princeton Obama group was looking for a project for the National Day of Service on Labor Day ‘08, and activist Liz Cohen suggested a food drive.
Seeking donations in front of grocery stores wasn’t possible for that event, however, because the group was supporting Obama’s campaign, making it partisan. Instead, people brought food to dropoff spots, and that was that.
But during the month after the election, Ms. Cohen’s original idea could be put into play, with no politics involved. She describes the food drive that has evolved as “such a lovely system: catching people as they’re shopping anyway and asking them to get something for someone else while they’re at it. It’s all organic, right there.”
The Crisis Ministry became recipient of the food donated because she knew it from earlier experiences and “the setup in Trenton offers so much dignity to their clients.”
Thinking that December ‘08 drive would be a one-time thing, Ms. Cohen & Co. recruited 12 volunteers for each of two starter sites, McCaffrey’s and Whole Earth. Then came “an even colder day” in January, and another food drive. About this time someone said, “We should do this every month!” — at which point Ms. Cohen suggested the need for a committee.
Luckily, though, the system designed for those early food drives proved so workable that it has remained essentially the same: Two volunteers take each entrance for shifts of about an hour-and-a- half. They greet shoppers, ask for a food donation to help fight hunger and offer a short list of possibilities (for instance, cans of low-sodium vegetables and low-fructose fruits, peanut butter, hot cereal, pasta, dried beans — and more recently, fresh produce).
Shoppers typically emerge with their own groceries and food they’ll donate, which goes into shopping carts nearby. Twice during the 4½ hour period, a Crisis Ministry truck picks up the food collected.
By April, with a committee in place, members took responsibility for the growing number of sites — two people each, to set up and break down, assure volunteers and answer questions; publicity, Fran Engler, of West Windsor, and scheduling volunteers, Alison Politziner, of Princeton. Ms. Cohen and Kim Kyte, of Princeton, are overall co-chairs.
Social workers, educators, PR consultants, grant writers … busy to begin with, these group members all seem to share Ms. Cohen’s shrug at added work with “It’s easy to be a part of this!”
As for the volunteers who collect at markets each time, Ms. Politziner says about three quarters of them have become repeaters, helping at whatever site is scheduled. One family — a mom, dad and teenage son — are regulars.
With more supermarkets and two farmers’ markets joining the mix, group leaders decided to collect at two sites every month, with every- other-month (and in one case, quarterly-only) frequency for any collection site. They developed literature about the Crisis Ministry to have available for donors interested in knowing more.
Participating supermarkets are McCaffrey’s in Princeton and West Windsor, Pennington Quality Market. and ShopRites in Ewing and Montgomery. Seasonally, they’re joined by the farmers’ markets in Pennington and West Windsor.
It’s worth emphasizing that just as the Crisis Ministry is faith-based but non-denominational, the “Yes We CAN!” Food Drives group is values-based but non-partisan. “True, the initial energy came from the Obama campaign,” Ms. Cohen says. “Now we’re supporting the President’s values.” There are no political motives attached to the food drives.
She describes the “buy something extra” approach to shoppers as a “win-win.” People feel good volunteering and/or donating to help ease hunger; stores get extra sales and the Crisis Ministry benefits.
Going ‘shopping’ with Crisis Ministry
Gathered outside a corner storefront in downtown Trenton, people wait quietly with shopping carts and carry- bags. Periodically, someone opens the door, says a name and admits one or two of those waiting.
Inside is a small grocery store setup where, after checking in, each client gets an English-Spanish shopping list keyed to the number of people at home. Then, working with a shopping assistant, the client selects from shelves that are labeled protein, beans, vegetables and fruit, for the next few days. Also offered: rice or potato, pasta, cereal and extras (puddings and jellies, for example), as available.
This is the Crisis Ministry Food Store.
Truly a story in itself, the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton makes food available every weekday during the last three weeks of each month. Its food store serves an average of 80-85 eligible households a week, and clients may shop there once a month.
“Technically, we’re an emergency food provider,” says Mark A. Smith, Food Services Director. “Our clients go to other providers besides coming here.”
That is, many of those in front of the Crisis Ministry store today may well be waiting at a different food pantry in a few days, and so on, through the month. For those clients, it amounts to having a regular route, with frequent stops, to obtain food.
Mr. Smith says the number of people needing food assistance began to explode last fall. Although Trenton’s increase of 40 percent was somewhat expected, the 100 percent rise in Princeton came as a surprise. Overall, the Crisis Ministry moved from serving an average of 1,000 households a month to 1,400. That figure has now leveled off to 1,300 households monthly.
He notes that about 10 percent of the Crisis Ministry’s donated food in the year since then has come from “Yes We CAN!” Food Drives.
Next month, a “bigger and improved” food store will re-open next door to the current site in Trenton. An indoor waiting area, four computer intake stations and classroom space are among the changes. The grand reopening is Monday, Dec. 7, at 9 a.m.
That’s good news and bad news both because it reflects the continuing need for food — as well as the continuing need for “Yes We CAN!” Food Drives.
To volunteer for this year’s last “Yes We CAN!” Food Drive, on Saturday, Dec. 5, write to [email protected]. To learn more about the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton, visit TheCrisisMinistry.org. All are welcome at the open house for the Crisis Ministry’s expanded food store on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 2 to 4 p.m. at 123 E. Hanover St., Trenton. Parking directly across the street.