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SOUTH BRUNSWICK – Feinstein Challenge food drive nears $50,000 goal

By Mary Brienza, Staff Writer
   The township’s Feinstein Foundation Challenge food drive is getting close to its $50,000 goal.
   The annual drive has so far collected a grand total of $45,763.14 in donations, LouAnne Wolf, who is in charge of Social Services said Monday.
   The donations so far consist of $34,137.14 in cash and $11,626 worth of food, Ms. Wolf said.
   ”We are so fortunate for all the generous people in South Brunswick,” Ms. Wolf said. “We are less than $5,000 away from our goal.”
   Ms. Wolf said that this year’s goal for the Feinstein Foundation collection is to raise $50,000 in monetary donations.
   ”Just because our numbers are good, please don’t stop (donating), we count on the public and the community’s support to keep us going,” Ms. Wolf said.
   The Feinstein Foundation was founded in 1991 by the nationally known philanthropist and humanitarian Alan Shawn Feinstein, according to the organization’s website.
   The goal of the foundation is to “fight hunger and to encourage boys and girls to help others in need,” according to the organization
   The foundation will donate a minimum of $250 and a maximum of $35,000 of an allotted $1 million that will be proportionately divided among the more than 1,750 agencies from all 50 states that are participating in the challenge, according to the organization.
   Report forms from the participating agencies will be sent to the foundation the first week in May with each can of food counting as $1 as well as the amount of cash donated, according to an earlier press release from the foundation.
   During the previous 13 years, this drive has raised about $1.2 billion, and has been called the most successful ongoing effort to fight hunger, according to the organization.
   The Feinstein Foundation Challenge runs from March 1 until April 30, and will determine how much of a $1 million from the Feinstein Foundation the township food pantry will receive, Ms. Wolf said.
   Ms. Wolf said earlier that this is the second year the township is participating in the challenge, and last year, the township raised about $47,000 in food and monetary donations, Ms. Wolf said.
   As the drive continues, Ms. Wolf said there are needed items specific to the township including; boxed milk, jelly, coffee, canned meats, chili, stew, canned tuna, canned chicken, paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates, tissues, and plastic utensils.
   There will be a food collection on April 9 at Rowland Park for the South Brunswick Athletic Association’s softball and baseball opening day, Ms. Wolf said.
   Residents can also drop food off at the library on Kingston Lane as well, Ms. Wolf said.
   The food is used locally as it is donated, and will be making an impact on residents before the end of the challenge, Ms. Wolf said earlier.
   Residents can contribute to the challenge by donating food or pennies to the food pantry on Ridge Road, or by writing a check out to the Human Intervention Trust Fund and putting Feinstein Foundation on the memo line, Ms. Wolf said.
   To find out more about the challenge and the challenge, visit www.feinsteinfoundation.org.