Gloucester County Food Drive brings in more than 11,500 meals

The United Way of Gloucester County, the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders’ Human Services Advisory Council, and the People for People Foundation held the 14^th Annual Gloucester County Cares about Hunger Food Drive and collected donations for over 11,500 meals for families in need.

“The food collected during this year’s food drive is going to help so many families in the community,” said Michael Gower, Executive Director of the United Way of Gloucester County. “The success of this food drive would not be possible without the organizations and individual donors who held collections and brought in donations, and the volunteers who dedicated their time on Monday to help get all the donations to the Food Bank of South Jersey.”

The drive ran from February 25^th to March 3^rd, 2019. The final collection was at the United Way of Gloucester County office in Thorofare on Monday, March 4^th.

More than 50 local organizations as well as community members collected a total of 17,287 pounds of food for the Food Bank of South Jersey. The poundage equates to 11,525 meals. Since the 2006 start of the drive, 197,238 pounds of food has been collected.

In addition, approximately 300 pounds of pet food was donated, which will be distributed through a local food pantry to help food-insecure families to feed their pets. It is sometimes forgotten that pets are an important part of many families, and the pet food collection helps families keep their pets instead of surrendering them to an animal shelter or abandoning them.

The Gloucester County Cares about Hunger Food Drive is held each year from the end of February through early March to restock food pantry shelves. After the holiday season, food items are often depleted at local pantries, and this year’s government shutdown also had an impact on pantry inventories. The addition of 17,287 pounds of food from the drive will help many local families in need.

For additional information on the food drive or the United Way of Gloucester County’s activities, visit uwgcnj.org or email Donna Fanticola at [email protected].