<!--[endif]-->

Hunger Initiative 

 

As the severity of the economic crisis became apparent in late 2008, the ECCF Board of Trustees met to explore a special response to help those most affected in the County.  They challenged the staff to to support local food pantries and soup kitchens to ensure that no one went hungry in Essex County.

We began by learning about who was serving the hungry in the County and how the system coordinated with state, federal, corporate food suppliers and local farms.  Since early 2009 we have been meeting with directors of hunger organizations to find out their needs and to define a set of goals through this collaboration. Two initial projects emerged:

• Assistance with the U.S. Letter’s Carriers May 2009 annual food drive.
  
  
• Development of a county wide hunger website to strengthen the area food networks that already exist and provide a central place for emergency food information.
  

Our funding for the hunger project has been provided by the Nordstrom Company and The Women’s Fund of Essex County. We are extremely grateful for their support.

The website will be the Essex County Hunger Network. Our goals for the site are to:

• Increase publicity for the organizations.
  
  
• Increase the opportunity for the organizations to communicate with each other and share resources and knowledge.
  
  
• Provide a current list of donation needs by agency.
  
  
• Provide a current list of volunteer opportunities by agency.
  
  
• Post upcoming events, fundraisers and news.
  
  
• Provide a complete information source for clients and case workers looking for food services in Essex County.

We have begun work on the site and will launch by the end of the summer!