During the COVID-19 pandemic, more people in Morris County need food than ever before—and too many also lack a way to get to food distribution sites. The Interfaith Food Pantry Network (IFPN), which provides emergency and supplemental groceries to Morris County residents in need, has been riding to the rescue in its Healthy Choices Mobile Food Pantry.
The purchase of the refrigerated van was made possible by a $100,000 grant from Impact 100 Garden State, an all-woman organization for collective giving. “Having this van has enabled us to execute on our strategy of delivering healthy food to existing smaller pantries in towns that are most distant from our main distribution sites in Morristown and Morris Plains,” says Carolyn Lake, Executive Director, IFPN. “It has also enabled us to reach many low-income seniors who are isolated and food insecure.”
With new sites added to the mobile program during the pandemic, IFPN accommodated close to 23,000 household visits in 2020, a 26% increase over 2019.
“The mobile van is exactly the kind of significant and sustainable grant that Impact 100 Garden State exists to make,” says Debby Seme, President, Impact 100 Garden State. “By pooling our individual resources, our members have been able to help the Interfaith Food Pantry Network in its critically important work, especially this year when the need to get food out into the community became an even more vital need. That is the kind of impact we look to have with each of the $100,000 grants we give.”
Since 2013, Impact 100 Garden State has donated more than $2 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties. A membership drive is now underway. To learn more, visit www.impact100gardenstate.org or write to member@impact100gardenstate.org
To learn more about the work of the Interfaith Food Pantry Network or to donate, visit www.mcifp.org.
The Community Foundation of New Jersey is pleased to host four Impact 100 groups – Impact 100 Garden State, Impact100 Essex, Impact 100 Jersey Coast, and Impact 100 South Jersey – which have brought together a combined 1,100 New Jersey women to make more than $3.5 million in grants to nonprofit organizations to date. These Impact 100 groups share our “multiplier effect” philosophy as evidenced by the volume and, indeed, impact of their giving. To discuss the ways in which the Community Foundation of New Jersey can host these types of philanthropic initiatives, contact us at 973-267-5533.