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January 3, 2006

Mayor Cites Support of Schools, Businesses in “Crucial” Campaign

The 2006 Have A Heart Food Drive for the food banks of Woodbridge Township is now underway, Mayor Frank G. Pelzman has announced.

The Have A Heart Food Drive, so named because it runs through Valentine’s Day, is launched each January by the Woodbridge Department of Health and Human Services and the We Feed Woodbridge Food Bank Committee. It was established in 1995 to address the problem of a traditionally low post-holiday food bank supply.

“We are asking people to extend their holiday season generosity into the New Year,” says Mayor Pelzman. “It is crucial that we keep the food pantries well-stocked through the dead of winter.”

Last year 6,500 pounds of food were collected during the Have A Heart campaign, says Peter Barcellona, 2006 Have A Heart chairman. “We would love to surpass that total,” he adds.

Through February 14, 2006, non-perishables may be brought to the Woodbridge Public Health Center, 2 George Frederick Plaza, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. weekdays. A food receptacle has also been placed in the Woodbridge Municipal Building at 1 Main Street.

According to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report, 14 million American families – 11.9 percent of all U.S. households – are at some time during the year uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all their members. O ver 13.8 million (19 percent) of American children reside in food insecure households, meaning they are hungry or at risk of hunger. 

“It is so important to keep the food pantries well-stocked for those in our township who need it,” says Mayor Pelzman. “The need is not only there during the holidays, but throughout the year.”

Many Township schools contribute to the Have A Heart campaign, with teachers turning the food drive logistics into classroom curriculum exercises. Students create posters, flyers, graphs and other learning aids that apply lesson plans and problem-solving methods to the project. Fourth-grade teacherKristie Manente of Robert Mascenik School 26 says it is a task her students enjoy. “They do the full gamut of organizing, collecting and sorting,” says Ms. Manente. “It is an excellent exercise in civic responsibility.”

As part of an ongoing awareness campaign, Woodbridge Township uses public events throughout the year to focus attention on local food pantries, from the Mayor’s Summer Concert Series to the Barron Arts Center Holiday Concert. “The entertainment is free,” says Mayor Pelzman, “but by encouraging people to bring a food donation, we are able to bring in tens of thousands of additional items to the Woodbridge Food Bank.”