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New Jersey Jewish News JF&CS receives MAZON grant for hunger relief
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger has made a $5,000 allocation to the hunger relief service sector of the Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Monmouth County. The allocation is part of a $25,000 package that the national anti-hunger organization is providing to three state groups that operate hunger-relief programs. JF&CS, which has offices in Red Bank and Morganville in addition to its Asbury Park headquarters, has operated a kosher meals-on-wheels program since 1997. The program currently delivers more than 20,000 meals each year to homebound, elderly members of Monmouth County’s Jewish community, according to Evan Gartenberg, president of the JF&CS board of directors. The entire $5,000 amount from MAZON will be allocated to the JF&CS meals-on-wheels program, he said. “The money from MAZON will help JF&CS increase its kosher meals-on-wheels program here in Monmouth County,” said Gartenberg. “We greatly appreciate the funding MAZON has given to our organization.” JF&CS recruits and trains more than 125 volunteers to deliver the meals; the program also includes social work/case management services for the recipients. The other state organizations receiving funds from MAZON are the Jewish Family Service Agency of Central New Jersey in Elizabeth, which received a $10,000 allocation, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Anti-Hunger Coalition in Englewood, which also received $10,000. The JFS of Central NJ plans to use the funds to support a variety of services associated with its kosher food pantry program, while the Englewood coalition will use the money to strengthen the area’s anti-hunger network. MAZON, which is the Hebrew word for “food,” was founded in 1985 as a national nonprofit agency that allocates donations from the Jewish community to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds. The organization grants more than $3 million each year to more than 300 carefully screened hunger relief agencies, including emergency food providers, food banks, multi-service organizations, and advocacy groups that seek long-term solutions to the problem of hunger. This year, MAZON has distributed a total of $1,580,000 in grants to 141 hunger relief organizations in the United States, Israel, and other countries. Since 1986, which was the group’s first year of grant issuance, almost $40 million has been given in support of anti-hunger programs and advocacy efforts. According to a statement from MAZON, approximately 9 percent of NJ households are “food insecure,” which means that they lack the financial resources to meet their basic nutritional needs. And figures recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicate that on a national level, hunger has risen 43 percent during the past five years. More than 38 million Americans, including 14 million children, are underfed. “It is hard to imagine that in a country as blessed with resources as ours, millions of Americans and their children confront the real possibility of going to bed hungry,” said Dr. H. Eric Schockman, president of MAZON. The organization will continue to work in collaboration with local, state, and national partners to advocate for sustainable solutions that help move hungry people toward self-reliance, Schockman said. Comment | | | |
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