Helping our Pantry Partners Flourish and Grow
As food banks, and the pantries and soup kitchens they supply, work to keep up with rising national food insecurity needs, Fulfill is part of a statewide effort to improve access and efficacy across its pantry network of more than 150 partners.
First started in 2022, the Growing Healthy Pantries initiative is a collaboration between New Jersey’s five food banks (the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Food Bank of South Jersey, Fulfill, Mercer Street Friends and Norwescap) along with support from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Feeding America. This effort aims to strengthen local pantries, allowing them to better achieve food security, promote healthy food choices and improve the overall health of New Jersey children and families.
“The main mission of this initiative is to support our pantry partners as they strive to become healthier and more accommodating places for neighbors,” explains Jazmyn Ball, Program Manager for Growing Healthy Pantries at Fulfill. “We’ll guide them as they make adjustments to support accessibility, and hopefully transition to a choice pantry model, which offers community members greater options and does so in a dignified way.”
So what does a choice pantry look like? A choice pantry provides a neighbor-centered approach, promoting dignity and empowering them to choose the foods that meet their needs, whether cultural, dietary-based, or their personal preference.
Recently, the Growing Healthy Pantries Initiative created a detailed, virtual toolkit available to pantry partners to better support them with resources and strategies to make these goals a reality.
“It’s a great resource: There’s a lot of helpful, free information in the toolkit,” says Ball. “Many of our pantries don’t have the resources to make huge investments for big, fast changes – the toolkit provides strategic guidance for small things they can do that can build up over time to make significant changes.”
The toolkit provides guidance on everything from incorporating technology and data into the pantry to strengthening their volunteer base and more. The toolkit features sample handouts and flyers, worksheets for organizing thoughts and determining strategy and surveys for pantries to provide to neighbors to better understand the needs of the community. Pantries can learn how to connect or refer community members to additional resources, such as housing, rental and/or utility assistance programs, or helping to enroll with SNAP, WIC, TANF and more.
Recognizing that every pantry is different, the toolkit can be tailored to the needs of each organization.
“Much like our effort to meet individuals and families who are in need of food and resources where they are, the toolkit is intended to meet our pantry partners where they are,” says Ball. “The toolkit has terrific resources, but it is constructed so that pantries have the choice to use what they need. They can also review on their own time and reach out to us at Fulfill with any needs, or we can help them directly throughout the entire process.”
Funding opportunities are also available currently to two pantries seeking support as they make changes to implement the strategies from the toolkit – and future funding could be on the way. Ball invites pantries to reach out and utilize her in this process. “Take what helps you,” she says to the pantries. “Fulfill will support you at any stage.”
To learn more about the Growing Healthy Pantries initiative and to request the toolkit, visit https://fulfillnj.org/growinghealthypantries/.