Photo Essay: Continuiti Donates Time and Money to Local Food Bank For the Holidays

In light of the unprecedented increase in the number of people experiencing “food insecurity” due to the recession, we decided to donate the funds we normally use to purchase holiday gifts for our clients and contractors to the Community Food Bank of NJ and spent a day volunteering our services.  For the full story, click here.

We arrived at The Community Food Bank of NJ on Tuesday morning, December 22nd.  This mammoth operation, located in Hillside, NJ provides food, clothing and related necessities to 750,000 people, 45% of whom are children and the elderly.  In 2009, TCFBNJ reported a spike in first-time users of food assistance – many of whom were employed.

We were asked to assist in the children’s clothing division, where the number of requests for warm winter clothing for children in emergency shelters was overwhelming the existing staff. Dressed warmly in the unheated warehouse, a volunteer shows us long lists of children who needed warm clothing a.s.a.p.  We were each given a plastic bag and a sheet with the name of the shelter, a child’s name, age, clothing size and shoe size. Most of the children were between the ages of 2 and 8.  We were told to concentrate on finding a coat, a pair of gloves and a hat for each child, if possible, and then to pick out up to 5 more clothing items as we saw fit.

For health reasons, CFBNJ only accepts donations of new clothing from retailers (we want to applaud The Children’s Place which appeared to be the single largest contributor of clothing). The photo above shows the section for girls ages 6, 9 & 12 months. While it appears to be packed with clothing, most of it was light summer weight and the quantity and quality of dresses, tops, and pants among the sizes was very uneven.

Boys clothing, by comparison, was even less plentiful. It was very difficult trying to find shirts, pants, sweaters or sweatshirts in the sizes needed.

Similarly, boys’ shoes were almost non-existent, and only 1 or 2 of the boys on our lists received boots or shoes in their bags that day.

While girls’ shoes were more plentiful, again, many were summer sandals. Unfortunately, we were unable to find most of the girls a pair of boots or closed, winter shoes.

It took Regina McGuire a lot of searching to locate this warm coat and gloves. In this instance, the coat was a size or 2 larger than the child needed, but the 2 or 3 coats in his size were thin and shabby. In fact, this was the best-quality coat she found for any child that day. She luckily found a matched hat and mittens, as well.

Debra Horowitz searching for a warm hat and gloves for a little girl on her list. Having a young daughter of her own, Debra also tried to match color and style as best she could.

Chris Wilkins (himself the father of a young son and daughter) working on an order for a little boy.  It was heartbreaking to realize that this uneven assortment of donated clothing was some child’s only hope for warm winter clothes - which made us all the more determined to fill as many orders as we possibly could that day.

We applaud the CFBNJ, its staff and volunteers for their dedication to assisting the needy in our community and for the very professional and efficient manner in which it runs such a huge operation. We urge anyone who has any “gently used” children’s winter coats, to consider dropping them off at the NJ Community Food Bank, or a similar organization in your state. The need is very real and you can rest assured that your coat will make its way to a child in need of protection from the cold. To learn more about the work at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, visit  www.njfoodbank.org.