Fulfill FoodBank Receives NJBIA’s Prestigious Award

March 25, 2021, Neptune, New Jersey – “Fulfill FoodBank is proud to announce that we have received NJBIA’s ‘Collaborative Approach Award’ for our partnerships with local hospitals and restaurants which have been critical in helping us feed the 215,000 of our neighbors in need at the Jersey Shore during the pandemic,” said Fulfill CEO and President, Kim Guadagno, the former Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.

“During these challenging times, nonprofits must look to opportunities for greater collaboration with the for-profit sector to achieve efficiencies, increase effectiveness and leverage their efforts to be most impactful,” NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka said. “Fulfill FoodBank has been doing an amazing job engaging and partnering with businesses to achieve the best possible results for the community.”

NJBIA’s Collaborative Approach Award was presented to Fulfill recently during NJBIA’s “Bridging the Gap” Summit to connect Not-For-Profit and For-Profit Businesses. The goal of the summit was to promote the exchange of ideas, resources, and networking between both sectors to achieve greater success.

“The work being done at Fulfill by Kim Guadagno and her team is a prime example of the kind of inspiring ‘change-maker’ collaborations that we’re talking about,” added Siekerka.

Fulfill’s Hospital Partnership Program with Hackensack Meridian Health and CentraState helps us find people in Monmouth and Ocean Counties who are having trouble putting food on the table due to COVID-19 through illness, loss of income, and other hard times. Specifically, hospital employees, new and expectant mothers, and patients with severe COVID-19 cases, cancer, and other long-term illnesses who are struggling, are being identified by professionals at local hospitals and connected to Fulfill through this partnership so they can receive much needed food and social services.

Since Fulfill’s Hospital Partnership Program started in November 2020, more than 100 families have been identified from local hospitals for food and social services. To date, 18,000 meals have been provided by Fulfill through this program. Families also receive assistance from Fulfill’s Resource Connections Team with applications for SNAP (food stamps), affordable housing, affordable healthcare, senior services, utilities assistance, and more, with the goal of getting families back on their feet.

Fulfill’s Restaurant Partnership Program was started at the onset of the pandemic on March 16, 2020. When many pantries and soup kitchens suddenly closed, Fulfill immediately partnered with local restaurants to meet the growing demand for food.

Restaurants were given a five-dollar stipend per meal, increased later in the year to seven dollars. The process has kept restaurant employees working, while feeding those in need. To date, Fulfill has served 350,000 meals in Monmouth and Ocean Counties through a network of more than 30 participating restaurants at the Jersey Shore!

About Fulfill FoodBank, formerly The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties

Pre-pandemic, Fulfill was feeding 136,000 people, including 50,000 children. Today, Fulfill is feeding 215,000 people, including 70,000 children. Fulfill has served 3.4 million more meals since the coronavirus crisis affected the Jersey Shore.

Fulfill has been providing food for families in Monmouth and Ocean Counties for more than thirty years. We were there to provide food and comfort during economic storms, Superstorm Sandy, and now the pandemic. During the current coronavirus crisis, the demand for food has grown 40%. We expect the demand to grow as more businesses close and families exhaust their savings. Feeding America estimates the demand for food in our area will rise to 56%.

Fulfill feeds children, seniors, veterans, and the working poor. Fulfill serves pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens, provides hot meals for children after school, and sends food home for those same children over the weekend. Fulfill also provides job training with our Culinary Training Program which just started up again with social distancing and other COVID-19 precautions in place.

Fulfill has earned a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for more than ten consecutive years. This distinction means Fulfill, a 501 (c)3 charitable organization, outperformed most charities in America in areas of efficiency, fiscal integrity, and effectiveness. In fact, 95 cents of every dollar donated to Fulfill goes directly to feeding the hungry in our community.

Follow Fulfill on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and share our posts to help raise awareness about hunger. To donate or volunteer, go to fulfillnj.org. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.