Bridgeton’s Summer Feeding Program
By Albert B. Kelly
If you’ve ever wondered about the question of inequality,
meaning whether it’s all that real or not, you need look no further than the
efforts to ramp up the summer feeding program here in Bridgeton and in
communities around the state.
I say that because in a country such as ours, it is
sometimes hard to reconcile when you see how remarkable we are in certain ways
and yet we have an entire segment of society for whom enough food and decent
nutrition is a hit or miss proposition.
Which brings to mind another thought; namely that progress
is something that is going to have to come from the bottom up- communities
thinking outside the box to solve problems that are both chronic and basic,
such food access and good nutrition.
And this brings me back to Bridgeton and partners coming
together to make sure that our children get the food and nutrition they need to
lead healthy and productive lives. We need your help.
The Community Food Bank of New Jersey is playing a critical
role in making sure our children in the greater Bridgeton area get what they
need. They will be working with several of our summer feeding sites to make
meals available, but we still need resources and volunteers.
The sites include Woodruff Elementary School, Amity Heights
Apartments, First United Methodist Church, St. Johns United Methodist Church,
Bridgeton Commons, Fairfield Township Schools, and Bridgeton Church of the
Nazarene during their Vacation Bible School; and Salem County Special Services
School District(Bridgeton).
To go with the locations that will serve as feeding sites,
we are hoping to have enough volunteers to help with the process of
distributing meals and doing the other things that make programs like these
successful.
In 2017, working with my Gateway hat on, we’re also able to
offer a mobile version in the form of the “Healthy Food Express”, which is a
bus that has been retrofitted with refrigerators and warmers to keep meals at
the required temperature until they reach the children.
We are in the process of working to secure all of the
additional resources we will need to make the program fully operational (i.e. maintenance,
fuel, insurance, and driver costs). While we’re not quite there yet, I take it
on faith that we will have the funds needed because of what’s at stake.
The Healthy Food Express would be able to bring meals to any
one of the feeding sites listed above- we will also have the ability to use a
pop-up component to ensure that the children have a place to eat their meals if
we should run out of seating at any one of the feeding sites.
One additional component I am thinking about is a mobile
book piece so that we can also use the summer feeding program as a way to
ensure that children have access to books and are encouraged to read over their
summer break.
It is needs like these, and the process of working to meet
those needs, where you come face to face with the fact that it takes village.
This is not new, it has always taken the collective efforts of the village to
solve problems- it’s just that the village looks different these days.
Not everyone has the time or the ability to volunteer doing
tasks, but they have some resources and they help by donating and sharing some
of what they have to help. Others may not have extra money to share, but they
have time and their willing to give of their time to help out.
Sometimes it’s not an individual, but an organization that
can help; whether it is offering a location, sharing their expertise; it might
involve helping to get the word out or assisting with overcoming language
barriers. Everything is valuable and everything helps.
If you think you might want to be part of helping feed
children during the summer months in whatever way you can, please contact my
office at (856) 455-3230 Ext 200.
In Bridgeton, we have over 5,000 children eligible to
receive food as part of the program. A couple of years ago, 89% of eligible
children did not participate in the program. Over the last 2 years, we’ve
brought that number down.
Part of improving was hard work in getting the word out so
families could sign up. This year, our efforts will include the “Healthy Food
Express”. With your help, we can get
that number even lower.