A Plea to Help Those Who are Hungry

By Vin Gopal

For many of our neighbors, the traditional Thanksgiving dinner table will be more lean next week than in other years.

Many of our local nonprofit partners are reporting increasing demand for food assistance. The number of Monmouth and Ocean County residents relying on food pantries and soup kitchens has jumped to more than 115,000 per month – more than doubling in just five years. That is an unprecedented sustained level of need in our area. Food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, afterschool programs, senior programs, and other community distribution sites, have had to stretch their resources like never before.

The already fragile system of feeding people who are food insecure is feeling the pinch of higher food prices while food insecurity continues to grow. Nearly 1 million people in New Jersey don’t have enough to eat. This includes more than 260,000 children. Last year saw a 22 percent jump from 2023 in people seeking food assistance in our state. The government shutdown has left 90,000 Monmouth and Ocean county residents without their November food assistance.

My Legislative District 11 colleagues, Assemblywomen Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul, and I are renewing an appeal we made last month. If you can afford to support local organizations where you live with donations of money or food, or by volunteering, please do. Every $1 you donate to Fulfill, the major supplier of food to Monmouth County residents who are food insecure, provides three meals to your neighbors.

Fulfill’s current emergency response plan includes Crisis Boxes, which Fulfill is preparing as emergency food kits intended to support federal workers who have been furloughed and SNAP recipients. These boxes will help individuals and families bridge temporary gaps in access to food. If you are interested in receiving Crisis Boxes to distribute to impacted individuals, please fill out the request form located at this Fulfill link: https://bit.ly/CrisisBox.

If your organization is interested in hosting a food drive for Fulfill, please register at the following link: fulfillnj.wpengine.com/food-drive/. You can also find a food pantry or soup kitchen where you can donate food items, or receive them if you are in need, on Fulfull’s website, fulfillNJ.org.

We also want to give you a legislative update on our recent efforts to help veterans and their families protect their homes when they have financial difficulty. We are introducing legislation to create the “New Jersey Veterans and Military Spouses Asset Protection Act”. This initiative would make the primary and secondary residences of a veteran, service member, or military spouse exempt from levy, execution, attachment, or forced sale for the payment of debts, judgments, or other claims against them.

Our veterans and their families have made great sacrifices to protect our freedom and keep us secure. We need to do the same for them.

We want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and we ask you to remember that hunger has many faces. They are the elderly and children, your neighbor who has lost a job, or a work colleague struggling with sudden medical bills.

Let’s all try to help and give a little more than usual this Thanksgiving. If you need help, please contact me at SenGopal@njleg.org, or call our Legislative Office at (732) 704-3808, for information and assistance.