NEWARK, N.J. - Three New Jersey non-profit organizations have teamed up to host a massive free food distribution event to serve the City of Newark on Sunday, August 2.
United Community Corporation, which has served Newark since 1964, partnered with Roosevelt Community4U, which operates out of Monmouth County, and Newark’s Bessie Green Community Inc. to put together the food drive, which will run from 2 p.m. through 5 p.m. at the Edison Place Parking Lot - located at 246 Market St., Newark NJ 07102.
Roosevelt Community4U will be donating the food, while the United Community Corporation will be providing 90-percent of the volunteers.
“Our mission is to help people struggling to help themselves,” United Community Corporation Executive Director Craig Mainor said. “This will help the community that we’re trying to serve, which is low-income community members and ones that are struggling due to job loss or the coronavirus. We are so thankful that we were able to partner with Roosevelt Community 4U and Bessie Green Community Inc. to make this happen.”
Cars should line up on Mulberry Street, make a right onto Edison place and a left into the parking lot. In order to follow social distancing mandates, drivers should open their trunks to allow non-contact food delivery. Walkups are welcomed for the free food distribution, which will be first-come-first-serve.
It will mark the second time that the three non-profits are coming together to serve Newark after hosting a food drive at West Side Park on July 5.
While the United Community Corporation doesn’t have any religious affiliation, Roosevelt Community4U’s director is Rabbi Moshe Hezrony, while Bessie Green Community is located in Newark’s North Reformed Church. Having the two religious organizations come together to serve members of the community in need is something that Mainor finds crucial due to COVID-19’s drastic effect on the city.
“Our three organizations are focused on serving the community and representing their own backgrounds,” Mainor said. “It definitely sends the message that you don’t have to look like me to help me. That aspect is so important for everyone receiving the food packages because they are witnessing what is happening in the city and everyone that is helping out.”
The food drive will be the second run by the United Community Corporation in five days. It held a food drive at West Side Park on Tuesday, July 28 with 26-van loads of fresh vegetables amounting nearly three tons of food being distributed to 7,000 people.
“Us being out there so often, not only allows us to serve the community food, but also allows us to let people know the other services that can help them,” Mainor said. “The fact that we can say that we’ve been around for 55 years is because of our drive to make sure that the community gets what they need and in many cases, what they deserve. When you are in a community like this, it speaks volumes when people see you as a familiar face.”
The United Community Corporation offers plenty of services that allow it to be a familiar face throughout the City of Newark - especially during the coronavirus pandemic. It runs the Fulton Street Homeless Shelter, which has expended to operate 24 hours a day. Its food distribution increased from five to over 40 pop-up sites and went from serving approximately 1,200 meals per week to nearly 12,000 meals per month. Due to the high-and-rising amount of job loss, UCC’s homeless prevention and rental and utility services have never been more important. It has also provided job training and youth and family programs virtually to continue serving the community.
For more information contact about the United Community Corporation visit: uccnewark.org.
For more information about Roosevelt Community4U visit: https://community4u.us/
For more information about Bessie Green Community Inc. visit: http://bessiegreen.org/
