JACKSON — A local group of veterans has mobilized to help their neighbors, as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4703 have been holding a food drive to bolster the supplies at the Jackson Food Pantry.
The VFW “is not just good old boys sitting at a bar and drinking,” VFW officer and Vietnam veteran Vinny Rubio told the Tri- Town News. “We do for our own and we do for our community.”
The food drive will continue through Jan. 24. Donations of non-perishable food items are being sought to help restock the pantry following the holiday season.
“Basically, come Christmas and Thanksgiving time, everybody’s in a giving mood,” Rubio said. “January’s a tough month, too, though, and the food supply kind of goes down. We figured we would do it for January so we could get enough food for distribution.”
The VFW is a member of the Jackson 501Association, a group of nonprofit organizations in town that occasionally meet and try to find ways to benefit the community. Other organizations involved in the association include the Central Jersey Italian American Club, the Rotary Club and the Kiwanis Club.
Rubio said the VFW did not expressly seek out assistance from those groups, but still managed to gather a substantial amount of food.
“The organizations can and really do work together, especially in Jackson,” Rubio said. “We feel this is going better than expected. We have well over 100 bags of food.”
In recent years, the number of local families requesting assistance from the food pantry has jumped dramatically. Prior to Thanksgiving, Suzanne Rogalsky of the Jackson Women of Today told the Tri-Town News that nearly 200 families had registered for assistance in 2011.
The VFW as a whole, according to Rubio, has had some tough recent years as well, with the ranks beginning to dwindle.
“Through attrition, we’ve lost some of ourmembers in the past. We are just trying to help the community and let people know we’re here,” Rubio said.
The organization currently has a membership list that includes veterans from World War II through the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As troops begin coming home from their tours in those nations, Rubio said, the VFW “is for them.”
Ultimately, Rubio believes the amount of food coming from the VFW exemplifies not only the strength of the local post, but the Jackson community as a whole.
“Jackson is one of the best communities there is to live in,” Rubio said. “Everyone is so giving, and whenever there’s a problem someplace, there is always someone out giving.”
TheVFWpost is at 54 Magnolia Drive. It may be reached at 732-928-0077.