Over the last two months, demand at MEND pantries has risen (and, since 2021, has remained at consistently high levels). We expect this trend to continue.

Because of you, we’ve been able to bring extra produce to local pantries, deepen collaborative partnerships across the community, and show up consistently at school markets. And we’re doing more than food – connecting neighbors to resources that help them thrive long-term.

Read on to see your support in action, and thank you for your investment in this work!

With gratitude,

Robin Peacock

Executive Director

P.S. – Want to learn more about the latest trends, and ways you can help get involved? Please schedule a call at your convenience, and/or consider joining the Food & Health Equity Coalition, led by MEND!

At the Blessed Sacrament Church Food Pantry in Newark, neighbors are leaving with more than groceries.

This month, the Diabetes Foundation trained the Blessed Sacrament team on how to refer clients to health resources. Resource posters are now displayed at the pantry, so neighbors can access information any time they visit.

Nutrition support is also growing steadily. Chesney Blue, a registered dietitian and the WIC Director for the City of East Orange (and a MEND Board member!), recently tabled, offering produce slices and snack mixes neighbors can recreate at home. 

Because of your support, a trip to the pantry is becoming a gateway to whole-community health!

Thanks to NJEDA’s FEED NJ Grant, MEND is deepening support for pantry partners in Newark’s Food Desert Communities. Six food pantries will receive double the amount of fresh food from now through 2027.

So far, at First Hopewell Baptist Church Food Pantry, the number of produce bags has grown from 50 to 80, with more produce per bag, a bonus item like bananas or grapes, and the addition of eggs. 

MEND’s fresh food support at Blessed Sacrament has also expanded.

Helen Brooks, the Blessed Sacrament Food Pantry manager, explained: “The fresh produce goes so fast. Patrons prefer it over cans. Cans can be too heavy to carry, and fresh food helps them prepare meals for the people they love.”

Your kindness helped MEND’s CITRUS Initiative (Community-Integrated, Tailored, Responsive, Unique Food Solutions) reach a new community this spring.

On April 27, the East Orange VA Medical Center became CITRUS’s fourth partner. In its first month, the partnership reached 120 veteran households. 

As Mercedes Chambliss of the Department of Veterans Affairs shared, “Many of our participants express gratitude not only for the food itself, but also for the dignity, care, and stability it brings during challenging times.”

Veterans deserve that same access and care. You are ensuring they are getting it.

Every week, MEND’s Community Resource Specialist, Dalili, visits Franciscan Charities Soup Kitchen, providing SNAP assistance, nutrition resources, and a caring presence.

One neighbor she sees regularly is Joanne, and, as Pantry Manager, Melissa Hiller, shared: “Dalili is always a joy to have. If Joanne brings you flowers, you know she likes you!”

The Food & Health Equity Coalition of Essex County is gathering for its Q2 2026 meeting on June 4th, and it would be a pleasure if you joined us!

Attendees will hear from Valentina C. Richardson Green, Director of the Essex County Department of Economic Development, Training & Employment, for a conversation on SNAP work requirements and solutions for those most affected.

Peers advancing the coalition’s mission will also share updates, and working groups from Q1 goal-setting will reconvene.

Pantry leaders across the network continue to ask for diapers and wipes.

If you’d like to help, please consider ordering from MEND’s Amazon Wishlist.

All sizes are welcome, with a preference for larger sizes (adult diapers are welcome, too!). Thank you for always showing up for our neighbors, in every way that matters.

Your care for this work has always gone beyond food, and now it is going further for the planet, too!

MEND has partnered with Neighborhood Compost to make sure unusable produce never goes to waste. Instead of the trash, it goes into BPI-certified compostable bags, then on to Neighborhood Compost’s farm right here in New Jersey, where it becomes nutrient-rich food for goats and nourishment for the earth.

This spring, MEND hosted Sophie V., a Dietetic Intern through Montclair State University’s Graduate Program in Dietetics. Over four weeks, Sophie led food demos, developed educational materials, and showed up in the community with curiosity and care.

MEND is proud to partner with programs like MSU’s that are preparing the next generation of nutrition professionals for community-centered work.