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Thank you for joining us in the fight against food insecurity in New Jersey. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of our neighbors in need.

There are many ways to make change happen.

Learn

Understand the current landscape of hunger and the public programs that combat it.

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Let our lawmakers and community know you support our work.

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Check out the many ways you can give your time.

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Your generosity makes a critical difference in the work we are able to do

Learn To Be An Advocate

Key programs at the federal, state, and local level protect our communities from hunger. It helps to learn more about how they work, how they are funded, and to hear in their own words about our neighbors’ experiences with food insecurity.

Hunger By The Numbers

0

of New Jerseyans are food insecure.

0

of children in NJ are food insecure.

0

of Atlantic, Cape May, and Cumberland county residents face hunger.

0

of kids in South Jersey face hunger.

0

is the poverty level for a family of 4.

0

is the minimum SNAP benefit.

SNAP

SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) serves 770,000 people in New Jersey and is the major program to help low-income (usually working) families, the elderly, and adults with disabilities who suffer from food insecurity. SNAP works as a debit card that can only be used to buy food.

WIC

WIC (Women, Infants, Children) is a federal feeding program. It gives low-income families with young children a cash value card to use when shopping for important healthy foods and offers nutrition information and other services to young children.

National School Meal Program

Giving 395,000 children in New Jersey free lunch, breakfast, [and snacks], the National School Meal Program ensures that they have enough nutrition during the school day to learn. It is available in every public school and many non-profit private and  parochial schools.

Common Myths About Government Programs

MYTH

People who use these programs may not really need them.

FACT

Poverty in America is widespread: The Federal Reserve recently reported that 39 percent of Americans do not have enough savings to cover a $400 emergency and that between the ages of 20 and 65, about two-thirds of Americans will use one of these programs for at least a year.

MYTH

These programs are wasteful and give money to lazy people, undocumented people, or people who don’t really need help.

FACT

Poverty particularly affects the elderly, the disabled, and children: it is estimated that half of all American children will have received food stamps by the time they reach age 18. More than 75% of households receiving SNAP have at least one child, elderly, and/or disabled person living there. Only 17% of SNAP benefits go to households that don’t meet these criteria.

MYTH

The federal poverty levels are a measure of modern-day finances.

FACT

The way poverty is measured hasn’t changed since 1969, only adjusted annually for inflation.

How Does a Food Bank Work

How Food Gets to Pantries, Soup Kitchens, and Shelters

Our FoodBank is a complex storage and distribution system. It allows a river of food to flow efficiently through loading docks, onto trucks, and out into communities. Our warehouses provide safe storage, while the food finds its way to soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and feeding programs around the state. Because we know what food they need and when they need it, we are able to marshal our resources to provide it in the most cost-effective way possible, to the people who need it most. Our food sourcing experts take advantage of economies of scale, bulk-purchasing power, and relationships with retailers, food producers and packagers who donate surplus, close-dated, and mispackaged but perfectly good food.

More About Our Solutions to Hunger

We also act as a contractor for the State and Federal Government, administering their food purchasing programs and distributing the commodity supplemental food they package and supply, and through our national parent organization, Feeding America^®, we participate in an inter-food bank exchange that allows each food bank to balance inventory, sending a surplus of corn, say, in one direction, and getting a needed shipment of pasta in return.

Finally, food banking reduces food waste. Last year, the Feeding America^® network rescued 3.3 billion pounds of good food, which would otherwise end up in landfills. The bottom line? It costs us one dollar to provide one person with a healthy, balanced diet for an entire day.

How Are Nutrition Programs Funded?

The benefit portion of these programs are primarily funded by the federal government. The state contributes to administering SNAP and also contributes toward the cost of school meals.

Current Legislation

Understanding the Farm Bill

Emergency feeding by CFBNJ, our sister food banks, and our network of agency partners (soup kitchens, food pantries, after-school and summer feeding programs at community centers, etc.) could meet only a small portion of the need of over 650,000 of our food-insecure neighbors here in New Jersey.

The Farm Bill, passed every five years by Congress, contains funding for nutritional programs that are of critical importance to vulnerable families, seniors, and adults with disabilities. Making sure that Congress passes the strongest possible bill to provide funding for SNAP is a crucial advocacy priority.

Here are our priorities for the 2024 Farm Bill.

SNAP

Protect, strengthen and expand SNAP, simplify the SNAP application process and maintain all  state flexibilities.

TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program)

Provide $350 million per year for TEFAP and $100 million a year for TEFAP storage and distribution to ensure adequate food for emergency food charities across the country.

FARM BILL PRIORITIES

Our Neighbor's Stories

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Dawn

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Dawn https://cfbnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/New-Site-General-Blog-Headers.png 1280 550 CFBNJ CFBNJ https://cfbnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/New-Site-General-Blog-Headers.png May 28, 2024 May 28, 2024

Dawn visits CFBNJ’s Fortescue mobile pantry from nearby Newport, where she lives with her husband and two kids. Friendly and optimistic, she’s made plenty of friends at the pantry. Dawn greets everyone she meets with a smile and a kind word. “I moved to this area when I was 18 years old. Everyone here is…

Warehouse Logistics Training Academy Spotlight: Meet Fednel

Warehouse Logistics Training Academy Spotlight: Meet Fednel https://cfbnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/WLTA-Spotlight-Meet-Fednel.png 1280 550 CFBNJ CFBNJ https://cfbnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/WLTA-Spotlight-Meet-Fednel.png February 5, 2024 April 24, 2024

Fednel graduated from CFBNJ’s brand new Warehouse Logistics Training Academy (WLTA) earlier this year as class valedictorian. After eight weeks learning about inventory management, compliance, purchasing, and more, he got a full-time job in our warehouse. “I got more experience and knowledge of the warehouse in the program,” he said. “I learned leadership, innovation, and…

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Dionna

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Dionna https://cfbnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Dionna-Age7-scaled.jpg 2560 1920 CFBNJ CFBNJ https://cfbnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Dionna-Age7-scaled.jpg November 28, 2023 November 28, 2023

Dionna, age seven, reached an exciting milestone this summer at the Boys & Girls Club of Lodi. “I took the deep end test, and now I get to swim in the deep end of the pool!” she exclaimed. Dionna loves to swim and be active. She visits the Boys & Girls Club every day while…

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Margaret & Sam

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Margaret & Sam https://cfbnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Meet-Margaret-and-Sam.png 1280 550 CFBNJ CFBNJ https://cfbnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Meet-Margaret-and-Sam.png October 3, 2023 February 5, 2024

When Margaret found herself out of work, she turned to the Community Assistance Pantry at CFBNJ’s Egg Harbor Township location for help. “The first time I came here, I was really scared that I wouldn’t be approved to get anything,” she said. “I haven’t qualified for any government benefits, but they’ve done so much for…

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Help us support key nutrition programs like SNAP, WIC and National School Lunches. Connect with your lawmakers today.

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Common Myths About Government Programs

MYTH

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MYTH

FACT

MYTH

FACT

How Does a Food Bank Work

How Food Gets to Pantries, Soup Kitchens, and Shelters

More About Our Solutions to Hunger

Sign up for Advocacy Updates:

How Are Nutrition Programs Funded?

Current Legislation

Understanding the Farm Bill

Here are our priorities for the 2024 Farm Bill.

SNAP

TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program)

Our Neighbor's Stories

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Dawn

Warehouse Logistics Training Academy Spotlight: Meet Fednel

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Dionna

Neighbor Spotlight: Meet Margaret & Sam

Connect With Legislators

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