JACKSON – The township’s food pantry is still operating but a June 10 deadline is fast approaching to have it relocated from its current location at the Jackson Senior Center on Don Connor Boulevard to a new facility.
The issue was discussed at a recent Township Council meeting. Council President Jennifer Kuhn noted misinformation being spread on Jackson oriented social media sites and said Mayor Michael Reina had blamed the council for a “decision that only the administration has the authority to make.”
She stressed that “we as a council do not have the power to relocate or shut down the (Jackson) Food Pantry. However, we do have voices and we do advocate for the food pantry to have a permanent secure location and a forever home.”
“I want to call for a strong call to action. This nonprofit organization feeds around 180 families and what is happening right now is simply not right,” Kuhn added. She said she had reached out to the township engineer to see where a suitable permanent location might be found in the municipality.
“This is something we must get right. Not just for the organization but for the residents who rely on it,” the council president added. She wasn’t the only council member to speak about the situation that has not yet been resolved.
It had been learned that rats had been found at the former location.
Jennifer Rende who operated the Food Pantry said in a May 11 e-mail to Council President Kuhn that she had received word from her colleagues who attended a council meeting in early May that “we are being kicked out of our current location effective the first week of June, due to the space being needed for the primary.”
“The mayor has agreed to store our freezers/refrigerators as well as our shelving. I was not told where that storage facility would be located, but grateful for that assistance. They reported to me that the mayor stated that due to the old location being sprayed, the food in the freezers/refrigerators had been discarded,” Rende added.
Rende said, “to my knowledge, only traps were put down and no spraying was ever done, per the DWP folks.”
“We do feel that the space we now occupy is good for our distributions and would welcome the opportunity to remain at our current location (the Senior Center on Don Connor Boulevard).” I am glad I at least have a “point person” to discuss issues with,” Rende told Kuhn.
Rende told The Jackson Times on June 2 that, “we have suspended operations until another location is found or terminating services obviously after a period of time.”
An inquiry to the mayor and administration concerning the status of the food pantry had not been responded to at press time for this article.
