Helping to meet essential human needs of food-insecure residents of Orange and East Orange, NJ, with dignity and respect
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A proud member of the
MEND
network of food pantries
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IFPO Offers ThankServing 2018
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The Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges (IFPO) has been experiencing record demand for services, now regularly assisting as many as 300 families each week. We are planning for 500 clients for our Nov. 21 Thanksgiving distribution
and 350 for our December 19 Christmas distribution. We anticipate reaching more than 3,000 individuals in those two days of holiday pantry distributions, and additional individuals through other holiday programs.
The IFPO has a variety of ways you, your family, and your friends can get involved for "ThankServing." Many options are listed below.
While we generally welcome walk-in volunteers, and we appreciate that there is tremendous interest in helping during the holiday season, we must limit volunteers for our Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday events due to safety and fire code regulations, and to ensure that everyone has a positive experience. In order to volunteer at IFPO events at the Church of the Epiphany and Christ Church on Nov. 17 and Nov. 21
you must sign up in advance
through the links below.
Advance sign up for the Dec. 19 distribution will open after Thanksgiving.
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The IFPO is looking to collect 1,000 new and gently used, good-condition winter coats in both adult and child sizes. We also accept winter hats, scarves, gloves, boots (please fasten together) and ski pants.
Donations can be brought locally to:
---
Congregation Beth El
during office hours, for collection by the Sisterhood, until Nov 16. There is a donation box by the main office;
---Keller Williams, 181 Maplewood Ave., Maplewood, until Nov. 16 (attention: Jen Lieberman).
Coats may also be brought to our host site Church of the Epiphany and Christ Church, 105 Main Street, Orange on Sunday, Nov. 18
ONLY
from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Additional public coat drop locations will be noted on our
website
as they may become available.
Donated coats will all be distributed to IFPO clients as part of our Nov. 21 Thanksgiving event.
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We expect to bring in a substantial amount of food from the Community FoodBank of NJ on Tuesday Nov. 13 for use as part of our Thanksgiving distribution. Strong help is needed at the Church that afternoon from 1:30 - 3:30. No need to RSVP, just come to work!
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The IFPO will again partner with our host congregation the Church of the Epiphany and Christ Church to provide food for a festive, hot Thanksgiving lunch for members of the Church and our clients. The Church expects to serve lunch to 500 people again this year.
Volunteers are needed to prepare and deliver hot, cooked food - homemade or store-bought - to the Church on Saturday, Nov. 17 between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm. A very limited number of volunteer slots are available for those who are also donating hot food.
Click for complete details and to sign up.
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Can you donate a frozen turkey? We need 500 this year! On Sunday, November 18th only, you can deliver frozen,
never thawed
, turkeys to:
TBJ
from 9:00 am to 11:30 am; and
The TSTI location (432 Scotland Road, South Orange) will also accept donations that morning of
unopened, unexpired, and non-perishable
food (cans and hard plastic packing only), as well as non-perishable Thanksgiving groceries (canned sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, canned vegetables, mac and cheese, stuffing).
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Pantry Prep: Sunday Nov. 18
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At the conclusion of the turkey collections on Sunday, November 18, vehicles from each of our partner congregations will caravan to the Church of the Epiphany and Christ Church, 105 Main Street, Orange, for "Pantry Prep"-- to unload and sort the food and coats in preparation for Wednesday's distribution, and place all frozen turkeys in a single truck.
Volunteers are needed between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm at the Church. This is a very physical day. Responsible children age 12+ and up are welcome to accompany a parent to help.
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Thanksgiving Distribution: Wednesday Nov. 21
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Over 100 volunteers are needed to organize and fill grocery bags, distribute turkeys & pies, and help clients select winter coats. While we generally welcome walk-in volunteers,
to help on November 21 you
MUST
be
pre-registered.
We are unable to take walk-in volunteers on Nov. 21 due to safety and fire code regulations and to ensure everyone a positive volunteer experience that day.
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Collection of New Toys for
Christmas Distribution
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The IFPO is conducting a very targeted new -- never used -- toy collection. Our goal is to collect 1,000 toys for IFPO clients to select as holiday gifts for their children. These are the only toys many of these children will receive.
We also hope to be able to provide several hundred toys to our host Church of the Epiphany and Christ Church, who will distribute them on Dec. 22nd to their members.
In order to ensure that each IFPO recipient receives an equal toy allocation, there are strict parameters for toys that we will accept: nothing too big, nothing battery operated, nothing in excess of $25 value.
Save the Schlep:
Toys ordered through the
Registry
will be delivered directly to one of our drop off sites (no need for you to transport). Registry items were extremely popular with our clients last year.
If you prefer to do your own shopping, please use our
HOLIDAY TOY WISH LIST:
Cars/Trucks
Dolls
: many clients prefer dolls of color and Latina dolls
Play Doh Kit
Arts & Crafts Set
Sports Balls: Basketball, Soccer Ball, Football
Baby/Toddler Toys:
stimulating toys that do
not
require batteries
Board Games
Purse, wallet, or costume jewelry
for teen girls
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Christmas Distribution:
Wed. Dec. 19 - 7:30 am - 12:30 pm
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Volunteers will be needed to unload trucks, organize and fill grocery bags, and distribute hams and fish.
Christmas sign ups will begin after Thanksgiving.
We are not able to accept or disburse clothing, used toys, or household items at Holiday time.
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We're often asked for places to volunteer on Thanksgiving and on Christmas Day. It's hard to find those opportunities, as everyone is off and many are looking to help out those days. We welcome you to come volunteer at IFPO any Wednesday (except the first week of the month) throughout the year. Please also like our
Facebook page
, which may contain requests for volunteer assistance on short notice.
You can find some alternative ideas for service opportunities around the Holidays on our
website
.
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Join IFPO's Thanks+Giving Campaign
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Prefer to offer financial help? Able to contribute financially in addition to volunteering?
Please consider joining our Thanks+Giving Campaign.
Food Provider
: $50+ - helps offset our monthly purchase of 6,000 pounds of food.
Produce Patron
: $500 - covers one month of produce (above our bountiful donations).
Toiletry champion
: $750 - purchases one month's supply of toiletries.
Diaper Ange
l: $2,000 - helps keep 250 babies clean & dry for one month.
Checks should be made payable to: "Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges" and mailed to P.O. Box 341, Short Hills, NJ 07078 or you can donate online by clicking the button below to be brought to Paypal on our
website
:
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We post tons of pictures on
Facebook
after each pantry date. Follow us there to see all the great weekly happenings!
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