Athletes Lend a Hand at the Interfaith Food Pantry

Posted on October 11, 2010

Morristown, N.J.- The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) teamed up with two athletic department student workers to volunteer at the Interfaith Food Pantry.  The Interfaith Food Pantry is located in Morristown, New Jersey, a place where most people would not expect such a need.  Believe it or not, close to twenty-five percentage of people in Morris County need food assistance. 

The Interfaith Food Pantry provides food and groceries to eligible Morris County residents.  Applications are taken and food is given to anyone in need.

Groceries are collected from a variety of sources:

• Houses of Worship, Businesses and Schools
• Community Service Programs 
• Local Groups and Organizations
• Individuals and Families

The Interfaith Food Pantry purchases food whenever donations run low in order to maintain our goal of providing reliable assistance to the community.

The Pantry is currently distributing more than 15,000 lbs of food to 325 families each week!  The Pantry's clients are primarily senior citizens living on fixed incomes and low-income working families in Morris County.

Groceries are provided to anyone from Morris County in need who has appropriate facilities to cook the food given.  Individuals schedule an appointment with the office to fill out an application and go to the Food Pantry for an interview so they can assess their need.  The client is then assigned to a distribution session.  Their current clients include senior citizens, disabled individuals, low-income wage earners, unemployed workers and families in crisis.  Each family is allowed to visit the Pantry monthly where they shop off the Pantry shelves, selecting what they need for their family.  Fresh vegetables and meat are distributed when available.

Learning about the mission and value of the food pantry in Morris County opened up the eyes of the students who volunteered.  When arriving at the pantry, Douglas Mcmahon gave them a background on the food pantry's existence.  They then watched a brief video with interviews from actual clients.  It was rewarding to see the impact that the Food Pantry has on their clients. 

The group of six split up with three CSE students loading boxes and moving them to another Morristown location for clients to shop at.  The other three students stayed at the warehouse and completed mailings to the local community. The first group came back to help finish up the project and complete inventory.  "We could have stayed there all day and helped complete different tasks. We were able to see some of the clients come in and to be a part of something like this was so rewarding,” stated Anastasia Feola, Vice President of SAAC.  The students look forward to returning hopefully around Thanksgiving to help prepare turkey dinner packages for families in need.

For more information regarding the Interfaith Food Pantry, please visit http://www.mcifp.org/index.html.