Crest Savings Helps Fill Lower Township Food Pantries

COURT HOUSE — Hunger can go by many names, meal gaps, food insecurity, food hardships and more. Regardless of what you call it; the problem is a reality for about 80,000 people in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties, according to statistics from the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.
To help address this need locally, Crest Savings Bank held a spring food drive to help fill the shelves of food pantries in Lower Township. Danielle Palumbo, a senior head teller at Crest Savings Bank who volunteered to head the food drive, said that baskets were placed in the bank’s eight branches with signs asking for food and personal care items.
“We like to get involved in the community and this food drive was one way where we saw a need and knew we could help,” said Palumbo who said she read about Lower Township’s plea to help stock the shelves of the pantries and decided to act. “Maybe people don’t realize it, but a lot of local people suffer and go hungry. By holding these drives throughout the year, we can do our part to help those who need it most.”
Palumbo said the baskets were filled during the months of April and May and taken to be distributed to the food pantries in Lower Township on June 6.
Lower Township Manager Mike Voll, said that a truckload of food was delivered.
“Every time we have asked the community to step up, they’ve done just that. Whether it is the business community or the residents, they’ve stepped up to help,” Voll added and thanked Crest Savings Bank for hosting the food drive.
Lower Township’s food pantry is run on a volunteer basis out of the local rescue squad building at 101 Georgia Avenue in the Villas. The rescue squad houses “Russell’s Pantry,” named for Russell Klumpp, a long time rescue squad volunteer who died in 2003, in a room on the north side of the building where they distribute food items and other non-perishable items such as diapers and personal care products.
The Lower Township Rescue Squad also has a freezer to hold perishable items such as milk, bread and meat.
Volunteers at the pantry estimate that they put food on the tables of two to three families per day. During the holidays, the rescue squad provides about 20 to 30 families with full dinners, including hams, turkeys to side dishes and desserts.
The rescue squad also coordinates efforts with local churches and nonprofits, including St. Barnabas, the Church of the Nazarene and the parish of St. John Neumann to help with keeping each pantry stocked.
Russell’s Pantry is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days per week. County residents in need of food or interested in dropping off donations can call Lower Township Rescue Squad at 609-886-2552. Food recipients are asked to come collect the food themselves, if possible.
A food collection bin is also available during normal business hours inside the Lower Township Municipal Complex at 2600 Bayshore Road for those wanting to donate to the local pantries.