The FoodBank has received a $225,000 three year grant from Our Family Foundation, the charitable arm of Stop & Shop New York Metro, to reduce child hunger in our region by improving access to nutritional food for low-income families with children. This new program, titled Healthy Nutrition for Kids, will entail the following activities:
The FoodBank with partner with two Monmouth and Ocean County health care clinics that serve a large number of low-income children. Clinic staff will “prescribe” fresh produce, dairy, and other nutritious items to families who need nutritional assistance in order to improve their overall health or address health conditions (i.e. diabetes). These items will be distributed on a monthly basis from the FoodBank Mobile Pantry truck at the clinic sites.
We will incorporate fresh, child-friendly produce like apples, carrots, etc. into our Backpack Program distributions for children at schools in Monmouth and Ocean Counties with a large number of extremely low-income families.