Imagine not knowing where your next meal will come from or how you’ll feed your family. What would you do? Sadly, hunger is a year-round issue for more than 200,000 South Jersey residents who are currently food insecure. Children who come home from school to an empty plate. Seniors make the difficult choice of whether to eat or pay for medicine. Families that don’t have enough to pay bills and keep three meals on the table. Local food pantries provide a needed safety net for those who are dealing with this painful situation. After the holiday season, many pantries find they are depleted, and we need your help to stock the shelves with food to reduce hunger in South Jersey.

Since 2006, because of generous participants, we have collected 234,367 pounds of food to combat hunger in our community. Please join us as we once again collect food to help our neighbors in need. The 18th Annual Gloucester County Cares about Hunger food drive will be held from Monday, 2/20/23 to Sunday, 2/26/23. The delivery of the collected food to the United Way office will be held on MONDAY, 2/27/23, between 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM. Having the delivery and pick-up on Monday will give the organizations five (5) full business days of collections, plus the weekend for staff and public participation. If needed, UWGC can coordinate a volunteer to pick up the items on February 27th between 9:30 AM and 12:00 PM.

COLLECTION DATES – Monday, February 20, 2023 to Sunday, February 26, 2023
COLLECTION DROP OFF OR PICK UP – Monday, February 27, 2023

Most Needed Items:
Canned tuna, chicken, corned beef, ham, salmon
Breakfast (hot/cold cereal, complete pancake mix, breakfast/granola bars)
Canned meals (pasta, hearty soups, and stews)
Canned vegetables, fruits, fruit cups, applesauce, dried fruit
Canned 100% fruit juices, canned and shelf-stable dairy products
NO GLASS BOTTLES OR JARS PLEASE

Additional Items Accepted…keep separate from food items:
Pet Food (unopened, maximum bag weight: 15lb)
Personal Hygiene Items (new, unopened)

Gloucester County Cares about Hunger food drive sponsored by:
United Way of Gloucester County
Board of County Commissioners — County of Gloucester – Human Service Advisory Council

We also accept pet food AND personal hygiene items which are distributed to low and fixed-income families to help them feed their pets and stretch their budgets. Pet food donations, personal hygiene, and regular food must be separated into three separate categories upon pick up or delivery.

For those wishing to make a monetary donation, please make the check payable to United Way of Gloucester County and the checks will be converted to one check for the Food Bank of South Jersey. These funds will be used to combat food insecurity in our community. We hope that you will conduct a food collection at your organization and encourage donations from your co-workers, customers, and students. United, we can make a huge difference in our community.

To participate, complete the Collection Site Sign Up Form by February 16, 2023.
Please contact Brittany Beyer with any questions at bbeyer@uwgcnj.org or 856-845-4303, ext. 130.