MANCHESTER – Inspire-NJ, formerly known as the People’s Pantry announced they will be bringing a reliable, free food source to the area and offering a full delivery service.
Pat Donaghue, the founder, president and chief executive officer of Inspire-NJ, said, “our program includes a supermarket style client choice food pantry. We will be offering fresh produce, meats, cheeses, healthy canned and dry goods, bakery products and much more.”
“We will be offering and delivering hot, nutritious, supplemental meals to those in need daily. We will be also be delivering full pantry orders to the clients who are unable to get to the facility and we will be running mobile pantries on a weekly basis, especially to the Crestwood Villages,” she added.
Donaghue said that the organization will also be providing a shopping service that will be funded by the consumer. “By doing the deliveries we will also be able to do well checks on these folks and immediately connect them to other social or emergency services or contact loved ones, when needed.”
Throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties there are 280 food pantries. Only five of those pantries operate five days a week. There is only one organization that delivers; they are located in Monmouth County in the Red Bank area. They deliver only pantry baskets, no meals and no groceries.
Donaghue said, “we will be ensuring all needed food and supplies will be delivered to our most vulnerable seniors and the disabled, while running a brick-and-mortar site five days a week and providing mobile pantry services every weekend.”
INSPIRE-NJ was founded in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. They opened a center in the Bellcrest Plaza on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River on November 12, 2012, in concert with the Township of Toms River and Toms River Regional Schools.
They later joined with the Jon Bon Jovi Foundation and Fulfill, the foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, into a multi-agency group called the BEAT Center, designed to answer all the needs of a person, not just nutritional.
The new building, called “The Barn,” on Route 70 in Whiting is a 6,000 square foot facility that is a combination supermarket-style food pantry, market with items for sale, and a restaurant.
Donaghue said, “we will be training differently abled young adults in every aspect of each of these different ‘businesses’ and then will work with our small business partners in the community for job placement. Our instructors, who are professionals in each of these industries and retired educators from the local school districts and colleges will also be reenforcing life and professional skills.”
