Patch Volunteers at Community FoodBank of NJ

Patch employees from Essex County spent Thursday morning building cardboard boxes to be filled with food for New Jersey residents served by the Community FoodBank of NJ. 

Editors from the Caldwells, Bloomfield and Belleville Patch sites, along with New Jersey Regional Publisher Joe Ornegri, worked assembly-line style to create several pallets of boxes while learning about the important mission of this Hillside-based organization.

The Community FoodBank of NJ fed 900,000 residents in 18 of the state's 21 counties last year. The non-profit also welcomed 30,000 volunteers in 2010, who after giving their time leave with a better understanding of the hunger and poverty New Jersey residents face.

Each year, the Community FoodBank distributes 37 million pounds of food to 1,500 partner agencies, including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and on-site residential programs, senior feeding programs, child care centers, after-school programs, group homes and summer camps.

But this is just a fraction of what this invaluable New Jersey organization does. The Kids Division runs a backpack program, Kids Cafe and Tools 4 Schools distribution. The Check-Out Hunger campaign raises funds each fall from shoppers at supermarkets around the state. And more than 100 low-income residents graduate each year with new careers and a brighter future from the Food Service Training Academy. To learn more, visit www.njfoodbank.org.

As part of Give 5, Patch employees spend five days a year volunteering.