COVID-19: Free Food and School Supplies Distribution at CCM on Aug. 29

Published on August 20, 2020

All Morris County Residents In-Need Invited to Table of Hope Event

Nonprofit Table of Hope, with support of the Morris County Board of Freeholders, Sheriff, and other officials and organizations serving Morris County, will hold a food and school supplies distribution event at County College of Morris on Saturday, Aug. 29 in Randolph.

Volunteers distributing food to needy residents at a previous Table of Hope event (JPG, 190KB) Volunteers will prepare food for distribution to families in-need at CCM on Saturday, Aug. 29

All Morris County residents are welcome to attend the event, which will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Parking Lot 1 on the CCM campus. Visitors are asked to use the college's Dover Chester Road entrance.

Face coverings are required for everyone who comes to campus.

County residents and families can receive fresh produce, meat, dairy, canned goods and other groceries. It will operate as a contactless drive-through event with cars stopping at different food stations categorized by food type. Volunteers will place bags or boxes filled with food into automobile trunks.

There also will be a separate station to distribute backpacks with school supplies.

photo of Freeholder Kathy DeFillippo(JPG, 3MB) Freeholder Kathy DeFillippo

"The great work being done by Table of Hope and other food pantries in Morris County has been exemplary, said Morris County Freeholder Kathy DeFillippo, liaison to the county's Human Services agencies. Without their dedication, many people in our county, who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, would be hard pressed to feed their families. We strongly back their efforts.''

The Board of Freeholders during this COVID pandemic have provided $56,000 to the county's four main food pantries to help offset the cost of their distribution efforts.

CCM hosted a similar event for Table of Hope in June, which was attended by New Jersey First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Sen. Anthony Bucco, and Freeholders John Krickus and Stephen Shaw.

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Rev Sidney Williams, pastor of Bethel Church of Morristown, converted the Table of Hope bus that was used to pick up food to also be utilized for mobile food distribution. Williams is founder of the Spring Street Community Development Corporation that operates Table of Hope and other programs to improve the lives of individuals and families in Morris County.

Assisting Table of Hope with the Aug. 29 distribution are Morris County Sheriff and CCM graduate James Gannon, members of the Morris County Board of Freeholders, and approximately 40 volunteers, including CCM employees and students. Sponsors include the Morris County Chamber of Commerce, Morris Habitat for Humanity, the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey, Market Street Mission, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Pi Theta Omega Chapter, Valley Bank and Alstede Farms.

We are delighted to partner with CCM so that we can reach a greater number of Morris County residents, said Rev. Williams.

While the past five months have been difficult and challenging for so many, it's also been so very heartwarming to see how the Morris County community has come together to help those in need, said CCM President Anthony J. Iacono. As community organizations we are all committed to doing all we can to strengthen the communities we serve.

Morris County is blessed to have folks who don't hesitate to pull together when others are in need, during this time as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, said Sheriff Gannon.

New Jersey First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy and Senator Anthony M. Bucco load up a car with groceries at the Table of Hope food distribution event held at County College of Morris in June.(JPG, 129KB) New Jersey First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy and Sen. Anthony Bucco load car with groceries at Table of Hope food distribution event held at CCM in June.

In March, Table of Hope began operating weekly mobile food distribution programs in Morristown, Parsippany and Dover, along with additional grocery supply events in other Morris County communities.

Prior to COVID-19, its pantry in Morristown served about 65 people weekly. The number now being served each week at each mobile distribution event averages 500 to 600, reports Teresa Williams, executive director of the Spring Street Community Development Center. To date, more than 18,500 individuals and families have been helped and more than 899,300 pounds of food has been distributed.

Table of Hope also operates a soup kitchen that during the pandemic has continued to provide dinners as a take-out service. Table of Hope receives food from the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside, local farms and food service companies. To volunteer or make a donation, visit the Spring Street CDC website at https://springstreetcdc.org/.

Along with Table of Hope, numerous other services are available to assist residents in Morris County's 39 municipalities who are in need of food. A list of available food services, including food pantries, volunteer shopper organizations, meal delivery services and take-out meal services, can be found at https://hs.morriscountynj.gov/food-services/.

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