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to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.NJ Township denies permit to anti-hunger organization
Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 7:04 pm - by Brad Linder. Filed under: Community.
By Shannon Curley
Updated version 10/04/08 2:52pm
We can all hope that today’s passage of the $700 billion bailout of the struggling U.S. economy- the biggest federal government economic intervention since the Great Depression - will boost the fortunes of struggling American families, but for many families hard times are already here. It’s at times like these when a lot of people need to rely more heavily on nonprofit groups that provide services, like those provided by Philabundance, a Philadelphia based nonprofit organization that distributes food to low-income communities.
However, an article that caught my eye in the Burlington County Times this morning that Willingboro, a New Jersey township, actually denied a permit that would have allowed Philabundance to distribute food at a local shopping center parking lot. The organization wanted to take fresh fruits and vegetables and give them out once a week to needy families. According to Melanie Jumonville, Senior Vice President of Programs and Operations at the non-profit, 1.000 families had signed up for its Willingboro program. Half of them were families with children.
In the article zoning board member Delbert Coomer said ” I don’t think anyone here is objecting to giving the food out. We’re objecting to the location. I think it would be better served going to one of the churches.”
My question is this: What is the zoning board of this town doing creating any stumbling blocks for an organization that is trying to feed its citizens? Philabundance actually spent $500 on an application to distribute the free food only to be denied a permit by the township (zoning board) council. Something is just not right about that.
Philabundance can no longer operate in the parking lot of the Grand Market Place
Philabundance had been giving out food in Willingboro since July. They had been doing this out of the parking lot of a partner organization STOP, Drop Your Gun. However, the turnout was so high that it became apparent that they were going to need a bigger place. So Philabundance moved to the Grand Marketplace parking lot which was huge, certainly big enough to handle the 300-400 families that had been turning up each week. But their last distribution date was September 9th. That’s when (Last week) Willingboro officials told Philabundance that the permit, they were seeking to continue operations, had been denied.
“We jumped through a lot of hoops. Then they moved the hoops and we jumped through those,” said Jumonville. “We’re really caught between a rock and a hard place because we now have 1000 families [that had signed up to receive food]. I don’t want to set 1,000 families up with food and then take it away.”
Jumonville said that Philabundance is still considering two churches within Willingboro, but she says that they’re going to move ahead cautiously because the township hasn’t proved to be as supportive as they would like.
Shannon Curley is an It’s Our City intern and a Senior at La Salle University in Philadelphia.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 pm
At first glance, this strikes me as bureaucracy at its worst. Over the last year, I have read many articles covering the growing crisis of food shortages in food banks that is the result of the failing economy, job loss, soaring gas prices, and other problems. So PhilAbundance finds a way to feed more people and what happens? Bureaucracy steps in and throws up a brick wall. This is truly sad. This is why I say that when the policies are failing those in need - then think outside the box and change the policies to make the structure fit the purpose it was designed for.
Shannon, I encourage you to keep covering this topic and if you see a way (such as here on IOC) that your writing about this issue can make a difference - that your voice can speak the truth about an injustice - then continue to speak the truth and advocate for those who can’t speak for themselves - or maybe no one is listening to them, but the officials might listen to you.
October 4th, 2008 at 5:17 am
It wasn’t the elected township council that denied the permit, as the writer claims late in her piece, it was the appointed zoning board of appeals, as she mentions earlier in the story.
Furthermore, the permit wasn’t denied in September, as the writer claims, it was denied this week. The operation was shut down in September because PhilAbundance did not have a permit.
The writer fails to mention why the zoning board denied PhilAbundance’s permit request.
October 4th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Sometimes a legalistic lens gets in the way of a writer’s job, which is often to raise the questions, not to provide all the answers. Although I was wondering why the permit was denied (too many people? safety issues? just the location?), I feel that she did an excellent job of presenting the bigger picture - a food bank attempting to fulfill its mission of feeding hungry people at a time when many charities are facing hardships themselves, and being met with many roadblocks to its requests. Perhaps a follow-up to this situation may be helpful
October 4th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Richard thank you for pointing those errors out. As editor, I should have caught both those items, because in the Burlington County Times story it does state clearly that it was the zoning board and the ruling to deny the permit was last week. My apologies. I have corrected the copy to ensure readers understand all of the events as they happened. The zoning board’s specific objections, according to the article we used says the folllowing “In rejecting the permit, Zoning Board members cited liability concerns in the event of an accident and a question about whether the owners of the property had granted their permission.” Shannon’s point and mine as well is that isn’t this the kind of organization that a township would want to assist in its efforts. Philabundance does have to follow the laws like everyone else, but from our conversation with the organization I think they feel they’re on their own in trying to provide assistance nearly 1000 families that have signed up for the program. But I do appreciate you pointing out the problems, and I take responsibility for that because I read the original article too and didn’t catch them. One other thing, if you have any additional information about why Philabundance was denied a permit, feel free to share them with us. Is there more to the story that what the Burlington Co Times story reported?
October 6th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Shannon -
As executive director of the Food Bank of South Jersey, whose mission is to eliminate hunger and malnutrition in South Jersey and as a sister organization to Philabundance, we distribute close to half million pounds of produce to needy families in Southern Jersey. We do this through a network of 200+ food pantries which in my opinion the best way to handle a mass distribution such as this. I can understand the frustration that Philanbundance has with the zoning board but there are more effective ways to handle this problem. You stated that there are about 1,000 needy families coming to the produce site. We’ve studied that area quite well but we’re unaware that there are that many needy families in such a small area of Willingsboro. We have several programs in Burlington County that we work with to provide food to needy families. We’re here to help and if Philanbundance would like to provide us with the list of families that need help, we will make sure that they are taken care of.
Shannon, perhaps you can do a story on Food Bank of South Jersey? We have a number of effective programs to reduce hunger in South Jersey such as Kids Cafe, KidzPack, Senior Brown Box, Produce for Health to name a few.