Roxbury Kiwanis Orchestrates Operation: Feeding Morris County

ROXBURY, NJ-On Saturday May 15th, 2021 at St. Therese Parish, 135 Main Street Succasunna NJ, 07876, Kiwanis Club of Greater Roxbury, along with other surrounding Kiwanis clubs, carried out Operation: Feeding Morris County.

With the help of surrounding Kiwanis clubs, over 150 volunteers, multiple sponsors, and many more, they were able to distribute over 40,000lbs of food to over 1,000 families in need.

Sponsoring this event was Body Strong Life and Seidner Dentistry & Associates. “…All of you come together and impact the community so much and it’s really touched my heart.” Alex Seidner of Body Strong Life said, “Being able to sponsor this event is just so amazing, I’m blessed to be here.” Alex Seidner is co-founder as well as his father, Bruce Seidner of Body Strong Life. Bruce Seidner is also the founder of Seidner Dentistry & Associates.

Local Kiwanis clubs involved included, Kiwanis Club of Greater Roxbury, Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany, Tri-Town Kiwanis Club, Kiwanis Club of South Orange/Maplewood, and Kiwanis Club of Bridgewater. With the help of these clubs the towns that were able to hold food pick up locations included Roxbury, Parsippany, Rockaway, Jefferson, Dover, Boonton, South Orange, Maplewood, and Bridgewater.

Scattered throughout all locations was over 150 volunteers. People who donated their time to help the people who need it most throughout their communities. The day started at 5:30 a.m., volunteers showed up at St. Therese parking lot as early as 6:00 a.m. Volunteers helped put boxes together, organize food as it came off the 18-wheeler, fill boxes with food, load the transport truck to take food boxes to other pick-up locations, load cars with food that were in line, clean up, and so much more.

“I want to personally thank all the amazing volunteers that took time out of their busy schedules to come help us. They are what made the event be able to run as smoothly as it did, and they truly make the event come to life.” said Cady Bye, Secretary of Kiwanis Club of Greater Roxbury.

Over 40,000lbs of food got distributed. Most of which was purchased, thanks to sponsors Body Strong Life and Seidner Dentistry & Associates, and some of which was donated by local organizations. Deeni Saltarelli from the Ray of Hope Foundation in Mine Hill NJ donated many crates of nonperishables that were put into the food boxes. Heather Champagne from Lasagna Love donated homemade frozen pans of lasagna. All of which were made by local volunteers in her organization. Joan Fitch from Eastern Janitorial was able to donate an entire pallet of bottled hand sanitizer that got distributed to each location.

“For us to go from 1 location and only about 100 families, to 7 locations and approximately 1,000 families in a matter of 5 months shows just how great the need for food is. These are people right in our own communities too, they are neighbors, friends, coworkers, people you pass by everyday and would never even think were struggling to put food on their table” said Cady Bye, Secretary of Kiwanis Club of Greater Roxbury.

“Many people may feel like they need to humble themselves because they are asking for help, so we try to alleviate any feelings like that they might have.” Cain Pope, President of Kiwanis Club of Greater Roxbury said.

While they do ask for families to register online, this is only for a rough estimate of how much food they will need. The only person who can see that list is the club secretary, Cady Bye. The day of the distributions, families simply pull up, say if they are registered or not, then a volunteer opens either the trunk or back seat of their car and puts the box of food in, closes the door and they drive off.

“We want people to feel as comfortable as possible. We want them to know that Kiwanis is here to help.” Said Cain Pope, President of Kiwanis Club of Greater Roxbury. “The economic damage wrought by mass layoffs and business closures is expected to persist long after vaccines become widely available and that means demand for food assistance will remain at the current high level for months or years to come.” Cain Pope says, “So long as there’s a need, we will continue to do the food distributions every month.”

Kiwanis club of Greater Roxbury will be hosting the next free food distribution on Saturday June 19th, 2021 at St. Therese Parish. 135 Main Street Succasunna NJ, 07876. This event will not only be a free food distribution, but also a job fair. Local businesses will be there to speak to anyone interested/in need of a job.

Joining them again next month at the distribution will be Morris county mobile units Hope One and Navigating Hope. The Hope One mobile unit is here to help people struggling with addiction. They hope to prevent drug overdoses and deaths. Onboard the vehicle is a sheriff’s officer, a licensed clinician, and a certified peer-recovery specialist. They offer free access to services needed as well as free Narcan training and kits. Navigating Hope is a complimentary service to the Hope One van. Navigating Hope is a mobile outreach initiative that helps connect people to social services. At the van, people can apply to different programs such as, SNAP, Medicaid, general assistance, utility assistance, housing assistance, as well as get referrals for programs such as, WIC, aging services, domestic violence services, legal services, mental health, EITC (tax credit), transportation, and veteran services.

If you would like to volunteer for June 19th’s event, please visit Kiwanishelps.org or contact Roxbury’s club secretary, Cady Bye at (201)-787-9769 or cady@roxburykiwanis.org

If you would like to learn more about the Kiwanis Club of Greater Roxbury, please visit roxburykiwanis.org or contact club secretary Cady Bye at (201)-787-9769 or cady@roxburykiwanis.org