NEWS RELEASE June 22, 2023
CONTACT: Michelle Wexler, TASK Chief Development Officer michellew@trentonsoupkitchen.org (609) 695-5456 x117
NJ SOUP KITCHENS OFFER MEALS AND MORE New Jersey community kitchens at the forefront of the hunger crisis
By The NJ Community Kitchen Coalition Joyce E. Campbell, CEO of Trenton Area Soup Kitchen Terry Connolly, CEO of nourish.NJ Carrie Kitchen-Santiago, Executive Director of Cathedral Kitchen Gwendolyn Love, Executive Director of Lunch Break Michelle Wilson, Executive Director of Elijah’s Promise
When most people conjure up an image of a soup kitchen, they think in nondescript terms – low lighting, quiet voices and stark rooms. Many people are surprised to find that the overwhelming majority of soup kitchens – particularly in New Jersey – are vibrant, bustling hubs of activity, serving as community resource centers for a wide cross-section of people. Food is a transformative entry point for so many of our neighbors in need, but hunger never exists in a vacuum. After a warm winter, where traditional day work like snow removal was nonexistent, and a spring that heralded the end of many emergency pandemic programs, even working families are struggling to make ends meet. Stagnant wages, the lack of affordable housing and rising consumer costs are further compounding the issue. Today, statistics show that 100% of counties across America have food insecurity. That means that there is a 100% chance that one of the 53 million people in America who
hospitality news / May/June P 14
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