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Yes We CAN! Food Drives is a volunteer group dedicated to helping alleviate the growing tide of hunger in Mercer County, New Jersey, by holding regular food drives at area supermarkets and farmers markets.
The donated food is collected on behalf of the Crisis Ministry, a non-denominational organization that operates food pantries in Trenton and Princeton that together service the food needs of 3,000 individuals a month, including 1,000 children.
Their clients represent all ages, races, and ethnicities and include those with low-paying jobs, those recently out of work, welfare recipients, veterans, the elderly, the disabled, and, of course, the children affected by all this.
Yes We CAN! Food Drives was organized in December 2008 by a group of dedicated individuals who were appalled by the statistic that one in seven Americans, or 49 million people, struggle to get enough to eat each day. The group now meets regularly to set up the food drives and has enlisted the support of dozens of volunteers who collect food at the markets.
Learn more about the Crisis Ministry by visiting their website at www.thecrisisministry.org.
The Yes We CAN! food drives take place on a Saturday at one of our partnering supermarkets. Our volunteers ask entering shoppers to purchase an extra box or can of food or fresh produce to help replenish the supplies at the Crisis Ministry food pantries. We collect the donations as shoppers exit and the Ministry collects the food at the end of the day. Simple and effective.
In an exciting development, Yes We CAN! Food Drives now collects fresh produce at the West Windsor Farmers’ Market every other Saturday from May through October. Check the box to the left for the current market dates. Our volunteers ask shoppers there to buy extra produce for the Crisis Ministry food pantries. It’s a win-win situation. The farmers appreciate the extra business and the Ministry clients love the chance to serve fresh fruit and vegetables to their families.
Yes We CAN! Food Drives now provide 10% of the food the Crisis Ministry distributes each month to its 3,000 clients, 1,000 of whom are children. Since beginning our food drives in November 2008, our volunteers have collected the following amounts through October 2011:
• 128,000 pounds of food collected
• An equivalent of 64 tons
Who would have thought that a donated box or can of food or bag of apples could add up to such an outpouring of help? Together, we CAN AND DO make a difference!
Our food drive partners are the area supermarkets and farmers markets that generously allow Yes We CAN! to hold food drives several times a year. Our partners include:
• McCaffrey’s in Princeton
• Pennington Quality Market in Pennington
• West Windsor Farmers’ Market (seasonal)
• Pennington Farmers’ Market (seasonal)
• Slow Food Market
• The Village Bakery, Lawrenceville
• Maidenhead Bagels, Lawrenceville
The food drives are organized by the Yes We CAN! Coordinating Committee. Each member of the committee assumes responsibility for some aspect of managing the twice-monthly drives. The committee includes officers, site coordinators, a volunteer coordinator, publicity chair, and a website designer, among others.
| Liz Cohen, Co-Chair Kim Kyte, Co-Chair Ann Summer, Secretary Alison Politziner, Volunteer Coordinator Marjorie Biddle Carol Calamoneri Stephanie Chorney Francine Engler |
Yeou-Shiuh Hsu Beth Margeson Sally Maruca Jenny Silverman George Stein Susan Stein Joyce Tatsch |
Learn more about becoming a volunteer by visiting Volunteering.
For the dates of upcoming food drives, visit Events.