I mentioned in March that I was going to visit a food bank in my area in order to learn more about what they do, how they do it and what the community would do without them. Not long ago I visited the FoodBank Of Monmouth And Ocean Counties, located about 20 minutes from my home. I’d read all of the facts on hunger and the food bank but wasn’t fully prepared for what I saw or the impact it had.
On the outside the FoodBank Of Monmouth And Ocean Counties looks unassuming. I’d passed by it many times and had no idea what was really happening inside. Just a building, right?
I went inside, accompanied by my Mom and my friend Ashley. The lobby was also unassuming. One area was filled with artwork from local primary grade classes, which I found warm and welcoming. And so began our tour.
The first thing you see when you walk into the warehouse portion of this 40,000 square foot facility is shelves, stacked floor to who knows how high, FILLED with pallets, cases and boxes of food. You can’t even imagine how many shelves there are, it looks a bit like the inside of BJ’s. Besides shelves there are also refrigerators and freezers, as well as open areas for staging. I was shocked to learn that all of that food in the warehouse wouldn’t last for more than 4-6 weeks if not replenished by new donations. Speaking of donations, The FoodBank Of Monmouth And Ocean Counties accepts donations of both food any money. For every $1.00 donation the FoodBank can purchase almost 4 pounds of food, which provides about 3 meals. Food is donated by people like you and I, as well as companies such as ConAgra.
So what are these shelves full of food for? Well, they’re mainly for Emergency Food Distribution, the FoodBank’s largest program. Emergency Food Distribution is the collection and distribution of food to the needy through a network of over 260 charitable programs in both counties. Last year, the FoodBank provided over 6 million pounds of food through over 260 different feeding programs. That’s a lot of food, isn’t it! How many people must it take to eat it all! Want to know how many? The FoodBank Of Monmouth And Ocean Counties provides emergency food to an estimated 127,500 individuals, a number 84% higher than the number identified in 2005. About 11% or an estimated 14,000 clients are young children under age 5. That’s a lot of hungry people, right here where I live!
The other statistics I learned were shocking.
- 42.8% of all adults in client households are unemployed.
- 58% of emergency food recipients don’t have access to a working car.
- 64% of households served had annual incomes below the federal poverty level in the month preceding the study, with the average household income being $16,630 for an average family of four.
- 33% of clients had to choose between food and medicine/medical care.
- 49% of clients had to choose between paying for food and paying the rent/mortgage.
- 53% of clients had to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities.
Some food is also used for the Backpack Program. How sad is it to think that the only nutritious meal a child might get is school lunch. It’s sad, and true. The Backpack Program is for those children. On Fridays a bag of food is placed into the child’s backpack, containing nutritious and easy-to-prepare foods to take home on weekends and over school vacations, when other resources are not available.
Another thing you see near the entrance is a working kitchen. At first I thought it was just a kitchen. It’s not, it’s much more. It’s the home of the Culinary Training program, a free 13 week program that teaches job skills and prepares daily meals for the Kids Cafe at the nearby Boys & Girls Club.
Something else the FoodBank has is a volunteer garden. Right now the garden is a half acre in size and they were getting ready to expand. Local citizens are encouraged to come and learn about gardening and plant vegetables for the needy families.
The last stop on our tour was the parking lot, where we saw the Mobile Pantry. The Mobile Pantry distributes food to areas that don’t have many/any food pantries, as well as several low income housing sites.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
It’s not too late, you can still help and make a difference using one or more of the following methods.
- Spread the Word on Twitter – Get social! Find more information on the issue of child hunger by following us on Twitter. Follow the fight at twitter.com/ConAgraFoods and use our hashtag with your posts: #childhungerendshere
- Share Your Story on Facebook – See the stories of those who benefit from your generosity in the fight against child hunger at facebook.com/ConAgraFoods. Every time you share a story on your Facebook page through August 31, 2011, ConAgra Foods will help Feeding America secure an additional meal, up to 100,000.
- Find a Food Bank in your area and find out how you can help! Find your local Food Bank using the Food Bank locator.
If you’re interested in learning more about childhood hunger here are some additional resources.
Web Site – www.childhungerendshere.com
This post is part of a sponsored partnership with ConAgra Foods as part of the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign. As always, my opinions are my own.
pat.navymom
Friday 24th of June 2011
The Food bank does a lot of good and is the kind of thing that we should support when we can as it helps our neighbors.