Community Corner

In a Time When More are in Need, Food Pantries are Hurting As Well

Local food banks say they are currently in need of more donations.

As the recession continues to hurt local families, it hasn't spared the social service organizations that are trying to help them.

Local food banks in Scotch Plains and Fanwood say they are in desperate need of donations if they are to adequately continue to serve their recipients.

"We're at the point where we're almost empty," said Bobbie Swenson, who runs the food pantry at Fanwood Presbyterian Church.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Swenson says that her food pantry, which is currently serving between 35 and 45 families a month, typically gets its donations from a Boy Scout drive in the fall and the post office drive in May. But those drives didn't bring in as much food this year, and now the pantry is in need of donations from every food group.

"For awhile I thought we could just be a soup kitchen because we had so much soup and miscellaneous beans, but even that is low now," Swenson said.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For now, the pantry has temporarily stopped accepting referrals for new families.

"We're at the point, when you think of a small food bank, that we're at the max of what we can actually do," she said.

Another food pantry in need is the one inside the Scotch Plains municipal building. Every Tuesday, local volunteers work hard to operate the food pantry there, serving anywhere between 10 to 12 Scotch Plains and Fanwood families a week.

While the pantry workers say they haven't seen the demand for their services dramatically increase, they have watched their supplies diminish as fewer donations come in.

On a recent weekday, the pantry's freezer, which sometimes has meats and vegetables available, was only stocked with frozen bread.

"Toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, dishwashing soap, household items, toothbrushes," one volunteer said, scanning the small storage room for items they need.

During its council meeting last Tuesday, the Scotch Plains Township Council even passed a resolution to create a trust fund to handle monetary donations to the food pantry.

For a full list of the food pantry's needs, go here.

In addition to the Scotch Plains food pantry and the one at Fanwood Presbyterian Church, other local houses of worships also run similar food pantries. But, one issue they all have is that they don't really keep in touch with one other.

"We don’t really connect with each other, we don't meet," Swenson said, adding that the local Ministerium has expressed interest in getting all of the food pantry managers together in the future.

The Fanwood Presbyterian Church Food Bank takes most of its referrals from Plainfield Action Services. It is open the third Saturday of every month, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. For information on donating, call 908-889-8891.

The Scotch Plains Food Pantry is typically open every Tuesday from 9:30 to 11 a.m., but sometimes that date is rescheduled if the volunteers are unable to make it. To donate food, drop it off at the municipal building, located at 430 Park Ave.


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