South Jersey food pantry tightens rules to curb abuse

A South Jersey Food Pantry is restricting who can get help feeding their families.  It’s because people are trying to circumvent the system.

At the Community Food Bank of South Jersey’s Egg Harbor pantry now only township residents can get a bag of groceries.  Executive Director Margie Barham says it’s because some people are going from pantry to pantry to find more food.

“We’re finding that many times people are ‘pantry hop’ so they are going to many pantries and allowing residents of Atlantic County to come to ours they may also be going to their pantry in their community so they are getting more than we can provide,” said Barham.

Barham says she thinks people “hopping” around are trying to get all their food from pantries, which isn’t the intent.

“It was meant to supplement, it wasn’t meant to provide meals 365 days a year three meals a day,” said Barham

The Food Bank is also seeking donations to handle the increasing demand.