FirstEnergy Foundation Grant Helps Expand Mobile Food Truck Program to Address Food Insecurity in New Jersey
“Find a need and fill it.”
The Jersey Shore Dream Center, a volunteer-driven non-profit organization that serves the needs of homeless individuals and families in Jersey Central Power & Light’s (JCP&L) Monmouth County service territory, has been living that motto since its founding in 1994. Shortly after its inception, the Dream Center launched a mobile food truck program in and around Asbury Park and Neptune to bring food to those most in need.
“We found that homeless individuals placed by social services in motels and rooming houses throughout the Jersey Shore need access to food pantries,” said Mary Hillegass, the Dream Center’s executive director. “Many of them are outside of walking distance to local food pantries with no transportation options. We created a mobile food pantry to bring weekly groceries to these locations.”
Each week, teams of volunteers collect food from local partners throughout Monmouth County – including Whole Foods Market, Deans Market, Fulfill (the local food pantry) and Wawa – and distribute them to motels, rooming houses, low-income senior apartments and at-risk neighborhoods. In recent years, their efforts have provided meals for 200 people every week.
COVID-19 Pandemic Heightens Food Insecurity Throughout the Jersey Shore
With its home base in one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, the local needs for hunger relief started to exceed the organization’s capacity to fill it as it became more difficult to find volunteers and more residents experienced homelessness.
“There are so many more locations throughout our community in need of our services,” Hillegass said. “So many individuals unable to secure food rely on our mobile food pantry.”
Frank Luna, regional external affairs consultant at JCP&L, volunteered for the Dream Center briefly in 2014. A chance meeting a few years ago allowed him to reconnect with the group, resume his volunteering efforts and see first-hand how the pandemic has stretched their resources.
“Each of the motels housing unsheltered individuals is like a little city,” said Luna. “People live there for months, even years, but struggle to have even their most basic needs met.”
With Luna’s encouragement, the Dream Center reached out to the FirstEnergy Foundation to partner in its mission. To help fill the need, the FirstEnergy Foundation is funding an expansion of the mobile food truck program with a $20,000 grant.
“The FirstEnergy Foundation’s support is allowing us to offer mobile food trucks to eight new locations in Ocean, Wall and Eatontown, as well as the new, 70-unit Soldier On building in Tinton Falls for homeless veterans,” said Hillegass. “The money will help fund additional vehicles, gas, insurance and food, allowing us to add an additional day to our operation and increase the number of locations served each week from 21 to 29.”
“It is no surprise that the Jersey Shore Dream Center is including veterans, who make the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” said Luna. “It’s just another reason that the FirstEnergy Foundation is proud to do all we can to support the life-changing work that the folks at the Jersey Shore Dream Center do daily.”
The Dream Center is a volunteer-driven organization that finds and fills the needs of over 80,000 individuals and families each month through mobile hunger relief and medical programs, residential rehabilitation programs, job skills training, counseling, basic education and more. The Dream Center works to meet people where they are to bring them hope and a way off the streets. Learn more about the Jersey Shore Dream Center at www.jerseyshoredreamcenter.org.
The FirstEnergy Foundation is funded solely by FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) and provides support to non-profit, tax-exempt health and human services agencies; educational organizations; cultural and arts programs and institutions; and civic groups in areas served by FirstEnergy's 10 electric operating companies and in areas where the company conducts business.
To learn more about FirstEnergy’s commitment to its community, visit www.firstenergycorp.com/community.
CONTACT: Chris Hoenig, 609-350-8599