By: centraljersey.com
NORTH HANOVER – Bare cupboards at the Harvest of Hope food pantry are making it difficult to help those less fortunate in the community. The pantry is asking that specific items be donated so families in need can create fuller, healthier meals.
Harvest of Hope is seeking peanut butter, boxed macaroni and cheese, jarred pasta sauces, cans of fruit, and canned pasta meals such as Chef Boyardee.
These items are needed because cereal and canned vegetables, two items the pantry has an overabundance of, do not make complete meals, said Evelyn DeLaurentis, a volunteer at Harvest of Hope.
Harvest of Hope is located on Chesterfield-Jacobstown Road in a trailer adjacent to the Rose of Shannon Lutheran Church, which runs the pantry. A donation box for food and supplies can be found behind the church.
Ms. DeLaurentis estimates that more than 25 families a day regularly visit the pantry, which is an increase from years past. New Jersey’s economic troubles have led to a situation where more families are in need, but fewer people are financially willing or able to help.
One of the responsibilities that Ms. DeLaurentis takes on is dividing the supplies into portions that resemble daily meals. She tries to ensure that each meal throughout the day is properly accounted for in the pantry’s inventory, but certain meals are harder to coordinate without suitable materials. For example, Ms. DeLaurentis usually includes peanut butter in the lunches, something that the pantry hasn’t had for some time.
Ms. DeLaurentis stressed that all donations are appreciated, but said Harvest of Hope mostly receives items like canned vegetables or boxes of pasta without the requisite jar of sauce to complete the meal. She said that while important, these items just aren’t enough to properly feed a family.
"You can do a lot of different things with a box of macaroni and cheese," Ms. DeLaurentis said. "It’s hard to work with just canned corn and beans."
As a contrast to the struggles Harvest of Hope is enduring, the food pantry at St. Mary Parish in Bordentown City is maintaining a consistent level of both supplies and assistance.
Bob Jacobis, co-director of the St. Mary food pantry, said that although the supply levels are steady for the moment, he’s unsure how long it will stay that way.
Mr. Jacobis estimates that the pantry has seen a 40 percent increase in visitors over the last month, something he says was unexpected.
"The increase was pretty surprising because there was a bit of a lull during the summer," Mr. Jacobis said.
St. Mary Parish serves six communities, but benefits from the help it’s given by the residents and businesses in the city. The local post office, for example, has a food drive that contributes to the parish, and all of the nearby schools pitch in by collecting goods throughout the year. The other churches in Bordentown City help St. Mary’s pantry by volunteering their time.
The food pantry at the Florence Methodist Church is also stable despite a slight increase in visitors over the past year.
Peg Dotson, a teacher at the church’s preschool, said that even though the number of people needing help has increased, the pantry’s supplies have been able to meet the demand. Much of the aid for the Florence pantry comes from local residents, but Ms. Dotson says that other churches in the area have also donated money and food when the need arises.
North Hanover’s Harvest of Hope isn’t nearly as fortunate as these two municipalities, however, and will have to wait until November for its next major food drive, which is the annual one run by the Boy Scouts.
The Boy Scouts drive usually fills the pantry with necessary supplies for six or eight months, but in the meantime, Harvest of Hope is hurting.
"Times are tough and there are really people in desperate need," Ms. DeLaurentis said.

