In the United States, food insecurity is a reality for many households in every community. A lack of access to healthy and nutritious food holds back thousands of people, especially children, from leading full lives. To help mitigate this shortfall, food banks play a major role in distributing donated and purchased groceries, foods, and meals directly to people in need across the U.S.
New Jersey has a food insecurity rate of 8.6%, which means approximately 762,530 people do not know where they will find their next meal. The Community Food Bank of New Jersey (CFBNJ) engages, educates, and empowers the community to lend a hand in establishing long-term solutions that directly impact people experiencing food insecurity, especially children.
Packaging hope
As a member of Feeding America, CFBNJ operates as the leading organization of its kind in the state. Started from the back of a station wagon in 1975 and officially registered as an incorporated non-profit in 1982, today CFBNJ operates out of two warehouse facilities (the size of five football fields!) in Hillside and Egg Harbor Township. It proudly serves area programs and community partners in 15 out of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
In addition to running nutrition education camps, food rescue drives, and feeding initiatives, the CFBNJ packages food orders for local soup kitchens and food pantries. They purchase and collect food for distribution and help people in need through SNAP application assistance, reaching communities with limited resources through mobile pantries
Lending a helping hand
At Axletree, we are deeply committed to giving back to our community in ways that create impactful change and elevate people’s lives.
Through our corporate social responsibility initiatives, we recently teamed up with the CFBNJ to (literally) lend a helping hand. Team members from our New Jersey headquarters joined CFBNJ members in packing food and household supplies for shipping to families in need. As our CEO Mohan Murali said, “Being able to feed yourself is a basic need, and children are especially vulnerable during the summer break when those who rely on school lunch programs do not have that option. We are glad we could partner with CFBNJ to help families facing food insecurity this summer feel safer and more secure.”
Getting with the program
From the top-down, we’ve always believed that creating a strong business and building a better world go hand-in-hand. As part of a greater whole, we have a responsibility to uplift our community. We are proud we could work with CFBNJ to feed 250 families, as well as our previous CSR projects donating hand sanitizer to the North Brunswick First Aid Squad and supporting other food bank initiatives. “I am humbled that Axletree team members were in a position to contribute their time to such a noble cause,” says Mr. Murali. “We look forward to enhancing our social outreach across all our global locations and to serve our community again in the future.”
July 28, 2021
