Props for how Hunterdon County is feeding the hungry this Easter

One of the things I love about Hunterdon County since I moved here four years ago is the quality of the people is second to none. Genuinely good people who will look out for each other. Whether it’s a neighbor bringing his snowblower over when your car is stuck (thank you Bob!) or helping out the less fortunate, I’ve found Hunterdon County to be filled with good souls.

I don’t know if it’s the area’s conservative leanings that make people here not look for the government to solve all their problems and help one another instead or just quite what it is. But I have another great example.

Hunterdon County Federated Republican Woman and Clinton United Methodist Church joined forces to launch Operation: Easter Supper. I

t just got done taking orders for hundreds of food deprived people and these dinners will be given out through the Flemington Food Pantry on April 3. Those dinners will consist of ham, mac n cheese, salad, a roll with butter and even dessert.

At least for that weekend those of us struggling will find a good meal and some positivity.

Corporate sponsors include Shoprite of Hunterdon County, Financial Resources Federal Credit Union, Hunterdon Healthcare Services and Reiner Insurance along with many private donations.

Now if you’re thinking these are just homeless folks that are going hungry, boy do I have something eye-opening for you. In a 2019 report on homelessness, the New Jersey count was 8,864 men, women and children.

Compare that to a report released last year on hunger in New Jersey which showed 774,860 people struggling with not having enough to eat. And of those, 219,760 were children.

In other words it's hardly just the unfortunate homeless population going hungry. It's your working neighbors. It's the child who is in your kid's math class. It's 1 in every 11 New Jerseyans. And you can imagine those numbers got even worse during the business closures brought about by the pandemic.

So hats off to Hunterdon County volunteers and anyone in New Jersey making a difference!

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.