EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — The Community FoodBank of New Jersey is the largest food bank in the state, and has some innovative ways of serving 15 of the state’s counties.
It is based in Hillside, near Newark, but has a South Jersey branch in Egg Harbor Township on the Black Horse Pike near Boscov’s department store helping people in need in Cape May and Atlantic counties.
According to its 2025 annual report, the CFBNJ provided enough food for more than 90 million meals last year. It provided 36 million pounds of fresh produce, 2 million children’s meals, 2 million pounds of emergency food, 50,000 senior boxes of heart-healthy food and 11 million hygiene products.
The food bank has a pantry connected to the EHT location where neighbors can access food directly. Through its Choice model, people are able to shop and put things in their cart their families like to eat.
“They’re able to shop according to their own preferences and dietary considerations,” according to Torrina Bennett, director of external affairs for the CFBNJ. “We have also gotten creative, really since COVID. We’re king of reinventing how we do food banking.”
She explained they have food lockers outside the food bank, akin to Amazon lockers, with a shelf-stable side and a refrigerated side.
“We close at 4 o’clock. A lot of our neighbors are in the hospitality industry,” Bennett said. “They work in casinos or they work multiple jobs and they’re not able to get to the pantry inside of those traditional hours.
“With the food lockers, they essentially go online and order ahead,” she said. “Once they shop for their order, our team will then put those items inside the locker … and they get an access code and they’re able to come and able to access their food at a time that’s convenient for them.
“We really try to eliminate the barriers,” Bennett noted.
They also have a home delivery service for those with transportation issues.
“We have put programs in place to make sure that everyone has access to food, especially our seniors,” she said. “We find a lot of seniors are not able to get around, whether because of mobility, disability or transportation. We’ve become kind of nimble in how we deliver food programming.”
Bennett believes the CFBNJ is a vital service.
“We respond to crises and during the fall we had the government shutdown and the SNAP benefit delay. In all those types of instances, a community food bank really, really steps in and supports neighbors where they need us the most,” she said.
Central United Methodist Church of Linwood is sponsoring a golf tournament in September to raise $20,000 for the CFBNJ, something especially vital now. (See related story.)
Bennett explained food comes to the food bank in three ways — provided by the government through the USDA; food donated by big box stores such as ShopRite, Walmart, Acme, Amazon and Target; and direct from farmers who have excess produce and want to donate it.
The CFBNJ also purchases food through funds it has raised. The food bank notes every dollar it raises can provide three meals.
In fiscal 2025, the food bank purchased 46 percent of its food, 40 percent was donated and 14 percent came via the government. A fact sheet points out that 94 percent of resources go directly to programs that feed neighbors, with 6 percent going to administration and fundraising.
CFBNJ is apolitical, but notes its government assistance has dropped. The Trump Administration has cut back on a number of programs from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP — that helps low-income Americans purchase food, the Local Food for Schools program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance that aided food banks.
That puts an added burden on the CFBNJ’s fundraising efforts.
“We’re down about 30 percent in terms of what we’re receiving from the federal government,” Bennett said. “For the (Linwood) church to take on our cause really helps us because we need to purchase more food because we’re just not getting the food we used to get from the government.”
The food bank gets grants, public, private and foundation, but a “huge part” is fundraising.
“Me and my team, our total fundraising department, carry a lot in terms of dollars we use to support the food bank, not just in food, but it also helps with the salaries and administrative costs,” Bennett said.
Individuals, businesses and organizations who would like to donate can go to the food bank’s website, cfbnj.org. People who would like to volunteer and those who need assistance can do that through the website.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
