It Takes A Village of NJ Farms to Feed 6,000 Families
There is so much to be thankful for!
On Friday November 17th, we gathered 100 volunteers to our Delran location to help pack up Jersey Fresh produce into 6,000 bags to feed 6,000 families this Thanksgiving.
After joining the team at Farmers Against Hunger(FAH) four weeks ago I never realized how amazing this organization is and just how impactful and important this work is until seeing the community effort behind the annual Thanksgiving Packing Event.
First, we put out a call for 6,000 reusable bags and the next day they started to show up and didn't stop until we recieved three gaylord sized bins full of reusable bags. Thank you to all of the community members that participated in our event by just simply dropping off reusable bags from their own personal supply. We even had a truck load of Jersey Fresh bags delivered by our Executive Board Member and Acting Secretary of Agriculture NJDA, Joe Atchinson.
Our next step was to gather and glean all the food to feed 6,000 families for the holidays. This effort was made possible with a lot of support and love that came from a network of New Jersey Farmers, Farms, and Farm Families.
We are so GRATEFUL this Thanksgiving for the outpouring of support and the amounts of food that were able to be harvested from so many farms around the Garden State. A special shoutout to the following farms for making this event possible and for sharing your land, produce, fuel, resources, and time.
As we neared the end of our 12 hour packing day we had one more group of organized volunteers come to save the day and bring the energy! Thank you to Brian for organizing a group of 50 volunteers from St. Matthews church and members of Greenfaith Circle of Southern New Jersey that packed 2,500 bags(or more!)to help us cross the finish line in record time. This year marks the 7th year that Brain, his family and both groups of volunteers have come out to FAH headquarters to pack and distribute for our annual event.
It is an honor and privilege to work along side of you all in the fields while gleaning, while packing bags, and while sharing stories. Thank you for being such dedicated long-time supporters of the great effort and of the organization.
A special shoutout to Senator Troy Singleton and his team(Team Troy!) for ALWAYS showing up for the community and for Farmers Against Hunger, we appreciate all that you do!
Suzanne Knezick & Jeff Tober of Rancocas Creek Farm from the New Jersey Agricultural Society Board of Directors for showing up to help pack bags on Nov 17th along with their teams.
Special thanks to Amy Ordog of Centerton Nursery and 250 alumni from the NJ Ag Leadership Development Program for helping from the very being to the very end - from bags to potatoes!
Let's all gather this holiday season while enjoying our Thanksgiving feast and let's Thank A Farmer for all of their hard work, time, energy, passion, and care that goes into the food that we know and love so much.
Please go out and show some support to these farms by giving them a "Like" and a "Follow" on social media, sign up this winter for a CSA or two, visit them at their local farmers markets, buy from them directly, go out and visit their farms(always call ahead), and make sure to Thank a Farmer!
Have A Very Happy Thanksgiving!
On Friday November 17th, we gathered 100 volunteers to our Delran location to help pack up Jersey Fresh produce into 6,000 bags to feed 6,000 families this Thanksgiving.
After joining the team at Farmers Against Hunger(FAH) four weeks ago I never realized how amazing this organization is and just how impactful and important this work is until seeing the community effort behind the annual Thanksgiving Packing Event.
First, we put out a call for 6,000 reusable bags and the next day they started to show up and didn't stop until we recieved three gaylord sized bins full of reusable bags. Thank you to all of the community members that participated in our event by just simply dropping off reusable bags from their own personal supply. We even had a truck load of Jersey Fresh bags delivered by our Executive Board Member and Acting Secretary of Agriculture NJDA, Joe Atchinson.
Our next step was to gather and glean all the food to feed 6,000 families for the holidays. This effort was made possible with a lot of support and love that came from a network of New Jersey Farmers, Farms, and Farm Families.
We are so GRATEFUL this Thanksgiving for the outpouring of support and the amounts of food that were able to be harvested from so many farms around the Garden State. A special shoutout to the following farms for making this event possible and for sharing your land, produce, fuel, resources, and time.
- Specca Farms
- Eastmont Orchards
- Giamarese Farm & Orchard
- Hallock's You Pick Farm
- Rancocas Creek Farm
- Dusty Lane Farm
- Abma Farms
- Glossy Fruit Farm
- Von Thun Farms
- Grow-A-Row
- Rutgers University Snyder Research Farm
- & More!
As we neared the end of our 12 hour packing day we had one more group of organized volunteers come to save the day and bring the energy! Thank you to Brian for organizing a group of 50 volunteers from St. Matthews church and members of Greenfaith Circle of Southern New Jersey that packed 2,500 bags(or more!)to help us cross the finish line in record time. This year marks the 7th year that Brain, his family and both groups of volunteers have come out to FAH headquarters to pack and distribute for our annual event.
It is an honor and privilege to work along side of you all in the fields while gleaning, while packing bags, and while sharing stories. Thank you for being such dedicated long-time supporters of the great effort and of the organization.
A special shoutout to Senator Troy Singleton and his team(Team Troy!) for ALWAYS showing up for the community and for Farmers Against Hunger, we appreciate all that you do!
Suzanne Knezick & Jeff Tober of Rancocas Creek Farm from the New Jersey Agricultural Society Board of Directors for showing up to help pack bags on Nov 17th along with their teams.
Special thanks to Amy Ordog of Centerton Nursery and 250 alumni from the NJ Ag Leadership Development Program for helping from the very being to the very end - from bags to potatoes!
Let's all gather this holiday season while enjoying our Thanksgiving feast and let's Thank A Farmer for all of their hard work, time, energy, passion, and care that goes into the food that we know and love so much.
Please go out and show some support to these farms by giving them a "Like" and a "Follow" on social media, sign up this winter for a CSA or two, visit them at their local farmers markets, buy from them directly, go out and visit their farms(always call ahead), and make sure to Thank a Farmer!
Have A Very Happy Thanksgiving!
