Tom Ellison, an employee of the Middlesex County Food Organization and Outreach Distribution Services, sorts canned goods at the agency’s New Brunswick warehouse Dec. 6. MCFOODS distributes food to more than 100 agencies, including area food pantries. JEFF GRANIT It is no secret that the number of clients at food pantries increases during times of economic downturn. Many pantries feed hundreds of people they’ve never seen before.
However, for some of New Jersey’s food pantries, the description of who needs the food has drastically changed. Gone is the notion that those who use pantries are from the long-term poverty bracket. Today, college educated residents of middle- and working-class neighborhoods are often among those seeking help.
“When you drive through Manalapan, it’s hard to imagine that people need help, because you see nice, big houses and nice, new cars,” said Anthony Morelli, president of the board of trustees for the Samaritan Center, Manalapan. “People can’t move out and sell their homes, and people get stuck with all kinds of payments. Sickness, divorce, job loss — anything could do this.”
Stephen Benigno unloads a palette of food delivered by the Community FoodBank of New Jersey to the Middlesex County Food Organization and Outreach Distribution Services warehouse in New Brunswick on Dec. 6. Food is distributed from the warehouse to agencies such as food pantries countywide. JEFF GRANIT staff The Samaritan Center is just one food pantry in the central New Jersey area that has seen a spike in recipients — a new hungry population that used to be able to support itself, but became stuck when the economic downturn caught up with their once-affordable lifestyles.
Alice Ryan is the executive director of Spotswood’s Community of Hope Ministries, which oversees the Christians United for People (CUP) Food Pantry in the community. In the last three years, Ryan has seen an increase from 40 clients to 217.
“That’s not counting their children and their spouses,” Ryan said. “That’s just the person who comes to pick up the food.”
Like Morelli, some of Ryan’s clients are new to financial struggle. Some are still employed, but after paying their bills have difficulty keeping food on the table.
“We have clients who have jobs, but even so, people aren’t going to go to a food pantry unless they need it,” Ryan said. “I have one client who told me, ‘I never thought I’d be coming to get food. My wife works and I work. We work in opposite directions, so we each need a car. By the time we pay the bills and the gas, we have nothing left for food.’ I’ve never heard of that, and I’ve been doing this for years.”
Such situations have become more and more common — the New Jersey Federation of Food Banks, which provides food to pantries and charity organizations around the state, has seen a nearly 50 percent increase in need over the past four years. It provides emergency food for an estimated 900,000 different people annually.
The Samaritan Center’s client base has increased from 175 to 300 in the last two years.
“Manalapan is interesting in the sense that we have a lot of people who are in relatively large homes, driving in nice, new cars, and suddenly, the breadwinner is out of work,” Morelli said. “They are months behind on mortgage payments and are facing foreclosures. They basically run out of money, and that’s a completely new scenario.”
It is estimated that between 5 and 10 percent of Manalapan’s residents are under the poverty line, but the Samaritan Center also serves Marlboro, Millstone and Englishtown, adding to the number of families who may come through the door.
“There is a needy population here, although it’s hard to imagine,” Morelli said. “If you have 2,000 people under the poverty line and then you start looking at the families just above that … it becomes a difficult number of people to put your hand on.”
The CUP Food Pantry primarily serves Spotswood, but it also accepts those from surrounding towns who are turned away in their communities due to a lack of food or because they did not meet a certain threshold of need.
“If they get two bags of food, how does that take care of them for a month?” Ryan said. “They’re reaching out to get whatever help they can, so of course we’re going to feed them.”
Fortunately, the rise in need has been met with more donations and volunteerism from the community.
“We have been fortunate with how people have responded,” Morelli said. “We get people walking in every day with checks and with food.”
The Samaritan Center has about 100 volunteers who staff its operation, assisting with food distribution and bringing packages to clients three days a week.
“Our main thing is that we’re run strictly with volunteers, so we have really little in terms of expenses,” Morelli said.
Ryan said she has seen a spike in volunteerism at her food pantry over the past few years. Community organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts routinely collect food to restock the pantry, which distributes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“The ShopRite in Spotswood has been a tremendous help as well,” Ryan said. The store on Old Stage Road donated 100 turkeys to the food pantry for the upcoming holiday, and offers the pantry discounts on the gift cards it buys for its clients.
“This way, someone can buy milk or something else they need that we can’t give them,” Ryan said. “I can’t say enough about how fabulous Spotswood has been.”
The Samaritan Center receives similar donations from stores such as Wegmans, Target and Panera Bread.
“We have stores that are phenomenal,” Morelli said. “We [get] food from the food bank, and because of the contributions that are coming in, we are able to buy food as well.”
As food pantries continue their work to accommodate the growing client base, Ryan believes that there is a need for compassion — and a desire to return clients to a sense of normalcy — when helping those during financial crises.
“When I see mothers coming in with a baby and another child, I really feel for them,” Ryan said. “We just want to give them dignity during their time of need.”
Local food banks:
New Beginings Church of the Nazarene
80 Jefferson Blvd., Edison
Fourth Saturday of month,1 to 3 p.m.
email: nbcn@optonline.net
Hands of Hope Food Pantry
St. James Episcopal Church
2136 Woodbridge Ave., Edison
First & third Saturday of month,
11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
handsofhopenj.net
732-236-3330
www.njahc.org/middlesex-county-foodpantry. html
www.mciauth.com/mcfoods.htm