Photo: A mobile market at Rutgers, Newark, where students choose from a variety of fresh fruit and produce. The market was created in collaboration with MEND and pantryRUN, Rutger’s on-campus food pantry.
Press Release
Contact: Robin Peacock
Email: Robin@mendnj.org
Phone: 862.250.5216
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEND Announced as 2022 Nourishing Newark Grant Recipient
(August 31, 2022) Meeting Essential Needs with Dignity (MEND) NJ has been included in the first cohort of fourteen community-based organizations of Nourishing Newark Grantees, including The Greater Newark Conservancy, Project U.S.E, and Newark Science and Sustainability and Urban Agriculture Cooperative. (A complete list of qualifying organizations can be found at www.newarknj.gov/card/nourishing-newark.)
In March, 2022, Mayor Ras Baraka announced the availability of $2 million in funding to support community-based organizations that work to combat hunger and food insecurity resulting from and exacerbated by the adverse economic impact of the COVID-19 health crisis. The American Rescue Plan is the source of funds for this initial round of community grant funds.
The Nourishing Newark Community Grants Program intends to inspire the creation and expansion of sustainable, community-based, healthy food distribution channels. The program aligns with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) Food Desert Relief Program dedicated to eradicating food deserts, which are defined as any geographical area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food.
Administered by the City’s Office of Sustainability, grantees must meet at least one of three criteria; growing and urban agriculture, regular community distribution, or training and community education. Under the grant guidelines, MEND is qualified as a provider of regular community distribution, by helping to ensure regular access to free, fresh food and produce, and by engaging in regular distributions that seek to eliminate barriers to healthy food access.
To increase fresh food access for those who cannot visit one of MEND’s 22 member pantries, MEND created the MEND on the Move program. Through home deliveries and ‘mobile markets’, designed collaboratively with over fifteen community partner to meet the specific needs of those they serve, MEND on the Move delivers nutritious food directly and consistently to those experiencing barriers to food access. Beyond food, MEND provides funding, volunteers, and a collaborative forum for member pantries to share ideas and resources, all with the overarching mission of alleviating hunger, addressing the root causes of food insecurity, and improving overall health and well-being.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the City of Newark has distributed more than eight million meals to residents in need. Said Mayor Baraka of the grantees; “Fourteen highly deserving Newark community organizations are receiving $2 million in grants to advance urban agriculture and increase our community’s food self-sufficiency. These grants will make a major difference in the lives of residents, improving their wellbeing by ending food deserts, creating community gardens that provide fresh, healthy food to families in need, and strengthening neighborhood economies. I congratulate each organization on earning this grant award. They will keep moving Newark forward.”
### About Meeting Emergency Needs with Dignity (MEND)
Meeting Essential Needs with Dignity (MEND) is a hunger relief network in Essex County, NJ, focused on providing fresh and healthy food by supporting a network of over 22 food pantries located in Bloomfield, East Orange, Irvington, Maplewood, Montclair, Newark, Orange, South Orange, and West Orange.