S. Orange synagogue’s food pantry is given a top-shelf facelift

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

Eight-thousand pounds of food comes into the Bobrow Kosher Food Pantry at Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange every month. And until April, it took plenty of volunteers many hours to unload the food. What’s more, the food was stored “in closets all over the synagogue, wherever we could find room,” said the pantry’s former co-chair, Susan Kraham of Maplewood.

The food pantry, established in 1991, got its own room complete with a door leading directly outside during the synagogue’s renovation, which began in 2003. “That was great, but we still had no way to get the food from the truck to our shelves,” said Kraham. And there was a second problem. Rather than have clients pick ingredients from a shelf, they simply pick up prepackaged bags prepared by volunteers. But getting around to find the ingredients to put in the bags was no easy task.

So she and her co-chair Kate McCaffrey, also of Maplewood, had an idea. “If we could set the food out on shelving, it would be easier for the volunteers to walk through and pack the bags,” said Kraham. But that led to yet another problem: shelves are expensive.

That’s all ShopRite had to hear. Kraham and McCaffrey called Partners in Caring, a program begun in 1999 by the supermarket giant to fight hunger. The pantry had for several years been a recipient agency with Partners in Caring, specifically through the ShopRite stores in Millburn, West Caldwell, and Livingston. “Our idea was they might sell us some used supermarket shelving,” said Kraham.

Instead, Partners in Caring agreed not only to help, but to send a supermarket designer who looked at the space, consulted with the chairpeople, and presented the pantry with two designs. ShopRite donated the work to complete the job, which included installing a conveyor belt to bring the food into the food pantry, and brand new shelving to store it on.

A new team of chairpeople stepped in to see the work completed in February, and were the first to see all the new equipment in action. The conveyor belt, used for the first time in April, has cut the work in half, according to Marci Silbert of Short Hills, who currently chairs the committee with Janette Antiles and Louise Finkelman, both of South Orange.

“It’s an unbelievable time saver, and stocking is so easy now,” Silbert told NJ Jewish News.

Neither Karen Meleta, spokeswoman for Partners in Caring, nor any of the representatives of the food pantry could estimate the value of the gift, but it does not come from the $10,000 allotted to any of the area grocery stores, which is strictly for food, according to Meleta. “From time to time we hear of a particular need, or of a food pantry that needs equipment. We’re glad to help,” she said.

The food pantry is open to anyone in need in the MetroWest area. It currently serves 175 families per month, and could accommodate 250 per month, according to Silbert.

Johanna Ginsberg can be reached at jginsberg@njjewishnews.com.