The Food Bank Network of Somerset County (FBNSC) continues to meet unprecedented demand from food-insecure residents, serving more than 17,000 individuals.
Client visits to the FBNSC in 2024 are expected to exceed 32,000, up from about 27,000 in 2023, said Executive Director Steve Katz. Previously, 2021 saw a record number of client visits across the network, with about 12,000 for the year.
In addition, the Backpack Program − weekend meals for pre-school and elementary-aged kids − has seen similar growth. It is now at more than 1,700 students across 25 schools, up from 1,226 at the end of the 2023-24 school year. When schools came back to the classroom after the peak of COVID, the FBNSC was providing these weekend meals to about 700 kids across 11 schools in the county.
On a positive note, the Food Bank is excited to become a SNAP Navigator in 2025. As one of only three in the county, the FBNSC will be hiring a full-time social worker to assist clients with non-food issues. In addition to running the SNAP Navigator program, this staff member also will be assisting clients with dedicated case management to address those underlying root causes that cause them to become food insecure in the first place.
“While our initial goals with this are modest, any individual or family that we can help to move out of being food insecure is truly transformational and in this, I am constantly reminded of the words of Rabbi Hillel back in the 1st Century BCE, who said that helping one person is as though you have helped the entire universe,” Katz said.
The best way to help the Food Bank, and other organizations like it, is always going to be money, Katz said.
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“In addition to being able to stretch monetary donations farther to purchase food, as a brick-and-mortar operation, the Food Bank has numerous non-food operating costs that rely on donations to cover,” he said. “We have to pay rent and utilities for the 10,000-square-foot facility we have in Bridgewater. We have to put gas in and fix our two cargo vans that are out seven days a week to pick up donated food. We have to constantly fix our equipment, whether it’s our forklift, our fridges and freezers, or something else. And although we keep our paid staff at a very lean level, we do have salaries and benefits to pay.”
This year, the FBNSC has found new food suppliers through wholesalers and distributors that allows them to stretch the monetary donations money much farther than we could in the past. New sources for food donations have become available and they are installing a new walk-in freezer and fridge, thanks to both Quality Refrigeration and Magnificent Electric companies.
“This will increase our storage capacity for perishable foods by almost 40%,” Katz said. “All of this contributes to the more than two million pounds of food that we will distribute by year’s end.”
It was in 1982 that Marguerite Chandler, acting on inspiration she received during a visit with Mother Theresa in Calcutta, first set down the roots of the FBNSC. She had been told “look for hunger and you will find it in your own community.” It was there.
For the next four decades, with the leadership of Marie Scannell, the Food Bank “grew these roots into a solid and sheltering tree” to help meet the needs of the food insecure in the county, Katz said.
Working through food pantries located in Somerville, Manville, Bound Brook, VA Lyons, North Plainfield, Raritan, mobile distributions in Branchburg and Warren, and a warehouse in Bridgewater, the Food Bank’s goal is to help create the opportunity for each person to become self-sufficient.
Just a few months before the pandemic began, Katz, a retired Army Colonel took over the FBNSC reins from Scannell. Sadly, Scannell died in January 2024.
According to Katz, the original intent of food banks and food pantries in the U.S. was never to be a long-term solution to people’s food needs. Instead, it was thought of as short term and emergency assistance that people used after disasters or emergencies that they faced in their lives.
Such an emergency arose with the COVID pandemic.
“Almost overnight the Food Bank’s client numbers grew dramatically,” Katz said. “Thanks to the strong roots that had been planted in the community, a very, very dedicated group of staff, volunteers, and board members, and support from people in the community, the Food Bank was able to gear up and meet this demand.”
Katz said that many, if not most, in the food insecurity space thought that after the peak of COVID, the numbers would start to come down to the pre-pandemic levels. Instead, the demand just continued growing and growing, and the food security problem in the county, state, and country was realized not to be a short-term emergency one.
“Instead, it is a chronic problem created by underlying issues of unaffordable housing costs, incomes levels that are below what a living wage needs to be, and inflation that affects everything, including food costs,” Katz said. “All of this is exacerbated by long-term racial, gender and other social inequalities.”
Under the leadership of Katz, FBNSC has been working to find new ways to source food, particularly healthy food, to meet their growing mission.
In 2024, the FBNSC announced new partnership to meet rising food insecurity needs − a partnership with #GiveHealthy this fall to launch a free virtual food drive option. The #GiveHealthy platform, already used nationwide, makes it simple for anyone − businesses, community groups, or families − to set up a drive or donate fresh, healthy food in minutes directly to those in need in Somerset County. The program began in September and runs through the holidays.
The partnership ensures donations are not only safe and nutritious but also eliminate food waste, organizers said. The #GiveHealthy food drives can be set up in minutes and enable people to donate fresh fruits and vegetables in addition to non-perishable food items – making them a real game changer.
“Fresh produce is often the first thing to disappear from the tables of food-insecure families,” Katz said. “Through the #GiveHealthy Food Drive support, we aim to bridge this gap and ensure that everyone has access to the nourishing, fresh foods they need to thrive.”
Donated food will be delivered directly to FBNSC after a drive is over. There are no collection boxes and no worries about what food to donate, as all the items available to donate are based upon FBNSC’s need.
“We’ve had a wide variety of organization sponsor #GiveHealthy drives to support their favorite food bank or pantry,” said Patrick O’Neill, CEO of #GiveHealthy. “From large companies like Johnson and Johnson, to health care organizations like the Yale New Haven Health System, to local companies, civic organizations and schools. We’re thrilled to partner with FBNSC to enable organizations in Somerset County to help those in need with healthy, fresh food.”
Generally, the main location at 7E Easy St. is open from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Laid out like a small grocery store, the design of the main facility allows for the Food Bank Network’s Client Choice program. Rather than pre-making bags and boxes of food, and giving them to clients when they come in, the Client Choice program allows people to pick and choose what they would like to bring home.
Hours at the six satellite sites are typically a few hours on one or two Saturdays a month or as in the case of the VA Lyons site, the third Monday of the month. The FBNSC also is ramping up its mobile distributions to a few additional sites.
The Food Bank Network of Somerset County is open to all Somerset County residents, regardless of income or immigration status. No one will be turned away − staff and volunteers “err on the side of compassion,” Katz said.
“That includes, somebody who comes to us from out of county,” Katz said. “We’ll give them information on pantries or food banks that are in their county, but we’ll let them take food for that one visit. Nobody who needs will go away without. Not if we can help it.”
For more information, go to somersetfoodbank.org.
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From Dec. 1 to 8, the Courier News, the Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com are focusing on 11 organizations serving Central Jersey as part of the annual Needy Cases Fund program.
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Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter forMyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: [email protected] or@CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
