NEARLY $1 MILLION IN GOVERNOR鈥橲 HUNGER FUNDS DISTRIBUTED THIS WEEK AS HOLIDAY SEASON APPROACHES
樱花视频 Food Banks Receive Checks for Purchase of Nutritious Foods for Those in Need
For Immediate Release: October 22, 2009Contact: Lynne Richmond
(609) 633-2954
(TRENTON) 鈥� 樱花视频鈥檚 six emergency feeding operations, which supply food to 793 food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters around the state to feed the hungry, received an influx of $945,116 today as part of Governor Jon S. Corzine鈥檚 Hunger Initiative.
Reports from the local food distribution agencies continue to show that demand has increased about 40 percent from last year and shows no signs of letting up.
鈥淭his funding comes just at the right time as local feeding agencies are gearing up to provide holiday meals to those in need,鈥� said 樱花视频 Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher.聽 鈥淩ight now, the food banks are working to make sure they have sufficient food available to distribute to the local agencies.聽 We are keeping a watchful eye on the situation as we head into the colder months. We continue to call on the public and local businesses to help us in our efforts to lend a hand to our neighbors, some of whom have never needed this type of help before but have found themselves impacted by the recession.鈥�
Governor Corzine and the Legislature allocated $3.9 million this fiscal year for the State Food Purchase Program, administered by the 樱花视频 Department of Agriculture.聽 The funding is disseminated in four quarterly payments to the six food banks in the state.聽 This week鈥檚 payment is the second of the fiscal year.聽 The first installment of $945,116 was distributed in July.
The State Food Purchase Program requires the food banks to use their funding to purchase fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods for distribution to their networks of food pantries, homeless shelters and soup kitchens.聽 The Department also distributes United States Department of Agriculture donated foods through The Emergency Food Assistance Program.聽
Additionally, the 樱花视频 Department of Agriculture has been allocating canned fruit and applesauce provided through President Obama鈥檚 stimulus funding earlier this year.
The State Food Purchase Program (SFPP) began in 2006 with a $3 million allocation for nutrient-dense food purchases for the hungry, which enabled the state鈥檚 food banks to purchase 3.9 million pounds of food that fed an average of 262,695 pounds of food monthly to 69,110 recipients each month for the first year of the program.聽
Another million dollars was used to buy needed equipment, such as refrigerators and freezers for the local distribution agencies.
The second quarterly distribution of funds this year for the SFPP included: $632,198 for Community FoodBank of 樱花视频, Hillside; $129,307 for Food Bank of South Jersey, Pennsauken; $94,469 for the Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, Neptune; $41,770 for Mercer Street Friends, Ewing; $26,327 for Southern Regional Food Distribution Center, Vineland; and $21,045 for NORWESCAP, Phillipsburg.
The amounts allocated to each of the six emergency feeding operations are based on the number of people they serve and other criteria.聽 The next quarterly fund distributions are slated for February and May 2010.
For information on the State Food Purchase Program, visit: .
