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Juliette Gorham and Sophia Meneve handed out fliers Monday to shoppers entering the store. They read: “More than 1 million people in New Jersey don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Nearly 340,000 children in our Garden State face hunger. That’s 1 in 5 kids.”
Allendale shoppers responded generously, as did shoppers at supermarkets all across Bergen County.
The two-month 4th Annual Food Drive of Prominent Properties, Sotheby’s International Realty ends Friday.
Countywide, the effort last year netted 40,133 pounds of food and $5,000 in cash. The latter, Gorham said, was matched by the Inserra family of ShopRite.
“The very nice about us being the middleman is that everybody is always so grateful that we’re here donating our time,” Gorham said. “Not everybody knows where the food bank is.”
“We make it easy for them,” Meneve added.
Sotheby’s employees collected the food and boxed it, Gorham said.
Then the Mahwah-based Ridgewood Moving Services takes the groceries to the Mahwah warehouse of the Center for Food Action, one of two major food banks that benefit from the drive.
All food collected statewide goes to either the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside or the Center for Food Action at 90 Ridge Road, Mahwah.
The center, based in Englewood, also has distribution sites in Fairview, Hackensack, Ridgefield, Ringwood and Saddle Brook. The money collected goes to buying store gift cards, Gorham said.
“That way, people can purchase toiletries,” Gorham said. “If there’s not something in the food bank, they can purchase whatever items they need.”
Other Prominent Properties real estate offices in Bergen are in Alpine, Fort Lee, Franklin Lakes, Hillsdale, Ridgewood and Tenafly.
During the last few days of the drive, the following items are requested:
- Boxed meals
- Canned beans
- Canned fruit and vegetables
- Condiments
- Fruit juice
- Pasta/sauce
- Peanut butter
- Rice
- Soups
- Tuna fish
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