Bergen County hospitals today asked the public to redirect donations to the Center for Food Action, a move prompted by the hunger pandemic currently unfolding in New Jersey.

A combined 150,000+ meals were donated to feed health care teams at Englewood Health, Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center, Holy Name Medical Center, and Valley Health System when COVID-19 gripped the state. Now, all four institutions are asking their communities to continue those efforts, with a renewed focus on feeding individuals and families who are struggling to put food on the table.

The hospitals are no longer accepting prepared meals and food donations, as normal operations begin to resume. Their leadership and medical teams are grateful to the public for their outpouring of generosity and support and urge them to keep the spirit of giving alive, as financial hardships triggered by the crisis continue to take a toll on Bergen County residents.

“Thousands of local families need help,” said Patricia Espy, Center for Food Action’s Executive Director, which provides food, housing, utility, and heating assistance and offers counseling and advocacy services to low-income individuals and families in northern New Jersey. “We encourage individuals and organizations to continue to support local restaurants by donating meal vouchers, through direct financial donations to the Center for Food Action. Your generosity will create resounding impact and help curb hunger, promote better health, and sustain local restaurants in our shared communities.”

The Center for Food Action will use donations from this program to purchase meal vouchers from area restaurants and then will distribute the voucher to the more than 1,000 households they serve each week. To give a voucher to a family in need, contact the Center for Food Action at 201-569-1804 x25 or visit www.cfanj.org/GiveAMeal.

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