Burlington County, New Jersey, distributes $290,000 to fight food insecurity

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Officials in one part of South Jersey are stepping up efforts to fight hunger and food insecurity.

This week, the Burlington County Commissioners awarded $290,000 in grants to six nonprofit food assistance groups.

County Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson said the county first began a monthly food distribution program when the COVID pandemic hit more than four years ago. However, once the health emergency ended, the need for assistance was still there.

“We had some funding left over from the American Rescue Plan Act, and we decided to create these grants, specifically to help these organizations,” she said. Among the grant recipients are Food Bank of South Jersey, Burlington Township Food Pantry, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Virtua Eat Well Food Farmacy, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and Oaks Integrated Care.

“The increasing levels of food insecurity is just not slowing down, I wish we could see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Fred Wasiak, president and CEO of Food Bank of South Jersey.

The organization got $75,000 for their mobile and school food pantries located across South Jersey.

Wasiak said the need for food assistance has almost doubled over the past few years in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem Counties.

He said multiple factors, including inflation and the high cost of housing in New Jersey are driving the increases, impacting people in rural, suburban and urban communities. He said he expects his organization to provide more than 22 million pounds of food this year.

Hopson agreed food insecurity continues to be a significant issue.

“People don’t recognize that Burlington County would be a place where some folks are in need, but the reality is it’s a huge county, we have obviously so many different levels of socio-economic status,” she said.

She said there is often a huge gap between those who have, and those who don’t, and the county is trying to help fill in that gap.

“These types of grants and these types of initiatives, partnering with other organizations that are doing so much in the community just makes sense,” she said.

Hopson said the county received funding through the American Rescue Plan Act and they are using $1 million from the total amount to support organizations that fight hunger. The county still has $710,000 left to distribute.

“We want everyone to know this money is available, apply for the grant so we can go through the process with you,” she said.