Established in November 2011 by founders Dianne S. Partee (deceased) and Mario D. Partee, The Community Care Food and Clothing Pantry is not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help eliminate hunger in the South Jersey Region. We serve anyone in need of food and clothing including referrals from partnering social service agencies. This also includes emergency support for food and clothing. Our pantry is set-up using the “client choice” model; allowing clients that are seeking food and/or clothing assistance to choose for themselves what products they need.
We operate a minimum of 4 times a month for scheduled distributions. Our Produce Tuesday’s program was added in 2016 and operates 3 times a month. This distribution concentrates on distributing fresh produce and bread weekly and in the evenings. We believe that this has helped our clients and community make healthier meal choices. Our pantry and clients rely on local corporate partnerships.
ProducePedia is a free resource that covers the types of fresh produce that can be delivered to food pantries. Each entry includes information on color, taste, and possible uses. People unfamiliar with the vegetable or fruit will learn how to use it, and those who are familiar with it still might learn a fun fact or two!
The Cooperative Extension sites have a wealth of information for any backyard gardener. Once you go to the site (each one if very different from the others) look for a link for “homes and gardens”, “landscape”, “consumer horticulture”, etc. to find information on improving your backyard garden. Neighboring state sites may offer information your own state’s site lacks.
