Thank you and recognition event in July, 2021 with our hosting restaurant owners. Many thanks to the restaurant owners and the agencies with their continued support who helped many Englewood residents in need during the pandemic.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic causing hardships for both families and small businesses, the Community Chest partnered with Family Promise of Bergen County to create the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner Project: a collaboration between nonprofits and people in the Englewood-area community to support households suffering from job losses and food insecurity.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 10.5% of all U.S. households (more than 35 million Americans) experienced food insecurity—a lack of consistent access to food, often due to a lack of financial resources—at some point during 2019. Researchers estimate that this number more than doubled due to the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of those struggling with food insecurity are right in our community. The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner Project aimed to bring this issue to the forefront, and as a result, it was able to highlight the ample care we have for one another in our community.
Englewood-based nonprofits—Bergen Family Center, Women’s Rights Information Center, West Side Infant and Teen Parent Program, Metro Community Church, Tibb’s House, In the Meantime, Tri-Arc and the Center For Food Action—participated in the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner Project.
These agencies were assigned vouchers each week that were then distributed to families in need. The recipients of the vouchers were then able to select 1 of 3 healthy meal options prepared by the participating Englewood-based restaurants: Bartolomeo’s Italian Deli, MaDears Southern Cuisine, TJ’s Southern Gourmet, Father & Son Seafood Steak-n-Take, and U Pie. Each restaurant prepared nutritious meals for the project at the price of $10 each; those residents who received vouchers used the voucher to pay for their meal. At the end of each week, the vouchers were brought to The Community Chest where they were processed and checks were prepared for the restaurant owners. Family Promise of Bergen County saw to managing the restaurant relationships, while the Community Chest became responsible for the project fundraising, bookkeeping and payment of the restaurants. Over 12,000 vouchers have been distributed to citizens in Englewood struggling with food insecurity.
The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner Project provided aid to a wide range of Englewood residents in need: those who live in senior housing, those who live alone and have limited access to healthy meals, and families of all sizes. Food was able to be distributed in many ways, from a drive-in (Center for Food Action) to bringing meals directly to citizens (In the Meantime)—any way to ensure that those in need received their food. “She was so thrilled that she cried and she asked if she could just hug me,” says Deborah Moore, Director of Care at Metro Community Church, describing a meal recipient’s reaction to the project.
The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner Project also allowed the participating local restaurants that have been negatively impacted by COVID to receive a steady stream of support during these unprecedentedly difficult times. Kevin Gillespie, owner of MaDears Southern Cuisine has said, “[The project] has benefited us tremendously. It has given us more exposure, and it reached out to the community where our name was put out a lot more.” Khalid Dunston, owner of Father & Son, said ““The Dinner Project was a wonderful thing for the community, and it was wonderful for us because it brought in some customers that we probably would never have had before […] and the people were able to get a free meal. I think it was a wonderful thing.”
The Community Chest’s fundraising and the donors’ support have made the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner Project possible. Englewood Health, LakelandBank, TD Bank, Temple Sinai Sisterhood, Englewood PBA, Rotary Club of Englewood, some of the participating agencies including Family Promise of Bergen County and theCommunity Chest, and more than 250 individual donors have charitably contributed to the project, says Paul Shackford of Family Promise of Bergen County. “When is the last time 11 not-for-profits and five restaurants in Englewood collaborated to work together?NEVER! This is a game-changer for Englewood. Two goals for our Neighbors HelpingNeighbors Dinner Project: to feed those in need, and to help local restaurants—we succeeded achieving both of our goals… big time!" Thanks to the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner Project’s donors, the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Dinner Project has raised $75,000to help aid food insecurity in the community.
