Food Pantry Lacking Turkeys, Thanksgiving Donations After Sandy

Englewood’s Center for Food Action is more than 1,000 turkeys short this year, with their annual distribution set to begin Friday, because Sandy forced them to focus their efforts elsewhere.

In a typical year, the Englewood-based Center for Food Action (CFA) distributes more than 3,000 Thanksgiving packages to local families facing the holiday without a meal. But this is anything but a typical year. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, during which CFA was focused on getting food to families without basic necessities like power or heat, the food pantry’s annual Thanksgiving distribution was not a priority, and now it’s in serious jeopardy. Because of the storm, people weren’t donating to the Thanksgiving cause, and with distribution set to begin Friday, the CFA is an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 turkeys short, according to a spokesperson. “We’re looking for a miracle because the storm has overshadowed Thanksgiving, and …

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Bergen Volunteer Center To Launch Sept. 11 Food Drive

As the 11th anniversary of 9/11 draws closer, the Volunteer Center of Bergen County is calling for acts of kindness and plans to sponsor a county-wide food drive to benefit the Center for Food Action.

The Volunteer Center of Bergen County is sponsoring a county-wide food drive on Sep. 11th to benefit the Englewood-based Center for Food Action. Donations of canned and packaged goods can be brought to the Center’s offices at 64 Passaic Street in Hackensack from 7am-7pm. The items needed most are: hearty soups, Parmalat milk, canned tuna and peanut butter. The food drive is being organized in light of the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, a coast-to-coast initiative that seeks to observe September 11th as a national day of service, charity and compassion. “We encourage residents of all ages and abilities to mark this day of remembrance with acts of service, helping the less fortunate or a cause in which they are interested,” …

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Bergen County Executive, Freeholders Present Funds to Fight Hunger

Englewood-based Center for Food Action gets $10,000 from county officials.

HACKENSACK -- Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan and members of the Bergen County Freeholder Board presented Englewood-based Center for Food Action with a $10,000 check to support its hunger prevention efforts Friday, according to a county news release.  “It’s important to remember that food pantries like the CFA need support year round. In this economy, more and more families are relying on food pantries to put food on the table. I hope that these funds will aid the CFA in their important mission,” said Freeholder John Driscoll, who the county said was instrumental in helping CFA obtain the grant funding.  CFA's main goal is "preventing hunger and homelessness and improving the lives of individuals and families living in poverty…

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Chiropractors Offer Free Services to New Patients in Exchange for Food Donations

The annual food drive will benefit the Center for Food Action in Englewood

A Ridgefield chiropractor recently announced his practice’s seventh annual food drive, offering a first day of services to new patients in exchange for non-perishable food items. Dr. Michael Errichiello, who serves on the board of directors of the Greater Fort Lee Chamber of Commerce and is a member and two-time past president of the Fort Lee Rotary, said he and his partner at Chiropractic Healthcare Associates at Health One in Ridgefield, Dr. Vineta S. Zalite, are joining forces with Snap Fitness for the food drive this year. “The food collected will be donated to the Center For Food Action in Englewood,” said Dr. Errichiello, who recently gained national attention for joining other members of the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors (…

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Temple Emeth Holds Food Drive

The following was submitted by Temple Emeth in Teaneck:  The Social Action Committee of Temple Emeth recently sponsored a food drive for the Center for Food Action in Englewood, New Jersey.   All the congregants at Temple Emeth were asked to take home an empty supermarket sized paper bag after Rosh Hashanah Services on September 28 and bring it back before Yom Kippur, October 7  filled with nourishing foods that could be distributed at the Center for Food Action.  The program met with much success.  Collecting food for the hungry at Temple Emeth is an ongoing project, although once a year the Social Action Committee holds a huge food drive. The attached photo taken by Barbara Balkin shows the Social Action volunteers standing behind the …

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Girl Scout Troop 90 Speaks Up for the Less Fortunate

Teaneck girls to earn Silver Awards, which require 40 hours of service toward one project

For two years, Girl Scout Troop 90 has been running food drives and collecting donations for those in the community who suffer from hunger and homelessness. The seven Teaneck youths that make up the group, along with their troop leader Peggy Gerber, organized a panel discussion Thursday night that featured State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, Jane Bellis of Family Promise in Teaneck, Jennifer Rothman of the Center for Food Action in Englewood and Janice Preschel of Helping Hands Food Pantry in Teaneck. Girl Scout Troop 90 members include Jessalyn Gerber, Julia Monaco, Aneeka Ayyar, Alison Root, Ruby Mather, Erin Burke and Rose Schonfeld. The girls invited the speakers and members of the community to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church to discuss the …

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