Over 60,000 people in Essex County receive SNAP benefits each month to help pay for groceries. The federal government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025, has delayed access to these benefits.

New Jersey issued full November 2025 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to eligible households on the morning of Friday, November 7, following a federal court ruling.

SNAP recipients are encouraged to check their Families First EBT cards at NJFamiliesFirst.com or by calling (800) 997-3333 to confirm their balances and use their benefits as needed.

Do you need food?

Check out this page with food (and more!) resources:

MEND serves as the anchor organization for the Food & Health Equity Coalition, which maintains a current list of food and related resources across Essex County, as well. More information can be found here:

Celebrating One year at MEND’s Fresh Food Hub 2.0!

What’s Possible Now:

• More Food, Less Waste: The larger space means we can source, store, and distribute more fresh, healthy food, ensuring better food quality and higher volumes.
• Greater Efficiency: Room for additional cold storage, and a place to handle larger deliveries with fewer trips will streamline operations and reduce overhead, allowing us to reach even more people.
• Expanded Community Engagement: We’ll have the capacity to host more volunteers and events, growing community involvement and strengthening our impact through hands-on collaboration.
• Space for Our Growing Team: Our staff will finally have the room they need to work, plan, and innovate – paving the way for the continued evolution of our responsive programming.

Thank you for all our supporters for allowing us to say “yes” to this opportunity!

MEND’s 2024 Impact Report is Here!

Click here to download and read the report: