JCP&L Donates $5K to Local Food Pantry

The employees also donated 1,000 pounds of food to the Interfaith Food Pantry.

During tough economic times, those that are down on their luck often times find it hard to get food on the table. That's where the Interfaith Food Pantry comes in. The Interfaith Food Pantry is a non-denominational non-profit organization that provides food and groceries to Morris County families in need. Recently, Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) helped support the pantry with a $5,000 donation. Last year, the pantry fell on hard times because a 13 percent increase from May through July in demand for food staples had nearly stripped the pantry of supplies. But local companies are stepping up to help out.  JCP&L employees held bake sales and luncheons, collected food items and donated cash during the recently completed 2013 "Harvest …

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Food Pantry to Unveil Annual Giving Tree

Morris Plains' Interfaith Food Pantry will honor individuals and groups that helped feed the needy.

The Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains will host a dedication ceremony Monday, March 8 at 11:30 a.m. to pay tribute to those whose donations for its 2012 capital campaign led to a whopping take of $2.7 million. The organization will unveil its 2012 Annual Giving Tree to mark the end of its Harvesting Miracles campaign, which paid for construction of the IFP's new resource center at 2 Executive Drive, which opened in November 2011. The giving tree, to be displayed in the resource center lobby, features the names of approximately 185 groups and individuals that contributed 1,000 pounds of food or $2,000 or more between January and December of 2012. Also being unveiled at the event are wall plaques listing major contributors to the …

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Morris Teen's Warm Hats Bring Hope, Spread Giving Spirit

Emily's Hats for Hope helps needy people in Morris County and beyond.

The holiday season is supposed to be about doing good to benefit others. A Morristown High School senior apparently has taken that message to heart to help needy people in Parsippany and throughout Morris County. Emily Kubin, 17, is the founder of the Emily's Hats for Hope Initiative. Since its start last year, the teen has used her talent for knitting to fashion winter caps. The caps, including others donated by community members, are distributed to social-service nonprofits in the county, including the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains. Emily's mother, Jill Kubin, said her daughter initially was reluctant to launch her own charitable effort. "She was worried that she would not be able to help everyone who needed help," said Kubin…

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Alexander Hamilton Kids Donate Over 1,000 Items to Food Pantry

Elementary school students only needed four days to collect for Interfaith Food Pantry.

All year, but especially around the holidays, organizations like Interfaith Food Pantry are in need of donations. When you add a crippling storm like Sandy to the mix, that need only becomes greater. Students at Alexander Hamilton School in Morristown recognized the need and wanted to do something about it. Here is the lowdown on how they helped, courtesy Alexander Hamilton student Antti Meriluoto: The Alexander Hamilton Student Council felt the need to help the Interfaith Food Pantry. The food pantry had a terrible struggle to regain food. Because of Superstorm Sandy, citizens of Morris County needed to throw out most of their refrigerated foods. This of course led the Interfaith Food Pantry to run immensely low on donations. Then, on …

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Thanksgiving Dinner Latest Sandy Victim

Interfaith Food Pantry seeks turkey and other food donations to replace items lost in power outage after storm.

Superstorm Sandy devastated homes, trees, wires and caused more than a million power outages in New Jersey. She even destroyed Thanksgiving dinner. The storm knocked out power that ruined turkeys, hams and other products that were going to be distributed to the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains. That delivery will now not happen. With Thanksgiving only a week away, the Interfaith Food Pantry has turned to organizations such as Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands for assistance. Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands will accept turkeys, hams and large chickens on Wednesday and Thursday as well as gift cards at the Hanover Library parking lot to be placed in a refrigerated truck. For a list of other food items needed, visit www.mcifp.org. According …

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Morristown Residents Work, Struggle to Afford Basics

New report from United Way calculates number of struggling working families, while food stores at Interfaith Food Pantry are nearly gone.

Give a hearty shout in the warehouse at Interfaith Food Pantry and you just might hear an echo. That is because a 13 percent increase from May through July in demand for food staples—everyday things from bread to milk, cereal to soup—has nearly stripped them of supply. "We recently had to temporarily adjust our intake policy to accommodate all the new people," said Carolyn Lake, director of community relations and development. "On top of all this, we just completed our weekly inventory and the situation is bleak." Interfaith Food Pantry's clean, new warehouse in their recently-opened new main offices on Executive Drive in Morris Plains is nearly bare, save a few boxes. "The boxes you see are primarily coffee and hygiene products," Lake …

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Prentiss Gray

1:43 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012

I believe the point here is our residents are struggling for "good" jobs. This one of the most expensive places in the country to live, more jobs are not the answer. We need more jobs that pay more than poverty level wages. Time to ante up for the community.   more ›

County Program Encourages Food Donations

'McMatch' encourages Morris municipalities to conduct food drives Sept. 1 through 24.

Morris County is partnering with several nonprofit agencies in launching a new initiative aimed at helping local food pantries meet the needs of Morris County families at risk of hunger. The initiative, "Morris County Municipal Action to Curb Hunger" or McMatch, is a contest that encourages Morris County municipal governments to conduct food drives between Sept. 1 and 24 to support local pantries, with the Interfaith Food Pantry serving as the default recipient. Frank Pinto, director of the Morris County Department of Human Services, said each municipality has been assigned to a division based on its population. Towns that collect the most food in their divisions will be recognized at the Human Services Public Officials Forum in September…

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Music and Food Donations Come Together on Sunday

Summer concert/food drive featuring Boston-based Roots rock band Adam Ezra Group set for 3 to 6 p.m. on the Green.

What's better than helping others? What about helping others while helping yourself to some entertainment? On Sunday, Monmouth County-based Move for Hunger and College Hunks Hauling Junk of East Hanover are teaming up for a summer concert and food drive on the Green. The free event, from 3 to 6 p.m., will feature live music, with all non-perishable food donations attendees make going toward the Interfaith Food Pantry. The entertainment portion of the day will be headlined by the Adam Ezra Group, whose namesake spoke highly of College Hunks New Jersey franchisee Stephen Bienko, who organized the charity event.  "He has been a fan for a while," Ezra said of Bienko's affection for his band's Boston-based Roots rock. "He has a very inspiring …

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Hats Donated to Food Pantry

Emily's Hats for Hope accepted at Interfaith Food Pantry

Note: In the time since this story was first posted, organizers of this effort have changed the address at which they're receiving donations. The updated address is now reflected in the story below. Emily Kubin appears to be the typical 17-year-old high school junior. Smart, pretty and stylish, she expresses herself well verbally. But, she also expresses herself well in another way: by knitting hats for the less fortunate. Last week, the Morris Township teen delivered 50 hats, 25 for adults and 25 for children,  to the Interfaith Food Pantry’s new building in the Morris County Central Park complex. She didn’t knit all the hats herself, but she recruited friends and acquaintances to either make or buy hats. She also brought in a bag of …

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5 Things You Need to Know Today

5 Things About Interfaith Food Pantry

The pantry is in its new facility off Central Avenue.

With all the space its new facility, the Interfaith Food Pantry can offer more services, client services manager Liliane Henao said. 1) Nurses: Nurses are on duty during distribution to screen clients' blood pressure, glucose or other risk factors. 2) Clothes: The pantry has clothes donated by local school students who purchased them while learning how to manage money. 3) Birthdays: Birthday bags are donated to the pantry each month. Ten for boys and 10 for girls, they are for kids about 5 through 12 years old.The bags contain toys as well as cake mix and other party items. 4) Baby items: Clients sometimes ask for baby items and local residents sometimes ask if the pantry needs them. In the previous facility, the food pantry had no room …

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