September is Hunger Action Month, a time when people from all over the United States stand together to fight food insecurity and raise awareness to help those in need.

Did you know that hunger is a daily struggle for nearly 50,000 people in our area?

With housing costs in New Jersey being among the most unaffordable in the nation, TASK is concerned we are only at the beginning of this new hunger emergency.

“Current rental conditions are worse than ever. With the double wallop of a pandemic and inflation, many people are just one illness or issue away from hunger,” says Joyce Campbell, TASK Executive Director.

Families must also contend with the fact that inflation currently costs the typical American household nearly $500 more a month. As a result, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of children eating at our dining room over the past few months.

Times are also especially hard on seniors who often live on fixed incomes. Each week, TASK serves 8,000 hot meals, and 2,200 of those meals go to seniors in Trenton and places where hunger is more hidden, including Princeton, Hamilton, Hightstown, and Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

Bette Noble, who runs one of TASK’s community meal sites at Holy Apostles’ Episcopal Church in Yardville, NJ, says TASK’s meal service is what keeps many of her elderly patrons from going hungry.

Recently, she’s been disheartened to learn why some regulars haven’t been able to pick up their weekly meals.

“They told me they couldn’t come to us because they wouldn’t have enough gas in the car to go to their doctor’s appointment the next day.”

As TASK’s Trenton dining room and many of our community meal sites are becoming more crowded, some sites in the Capital City report lines that snake around the block.

Many of our patrons tell us that if it weren’t for the soup kitchen, they wouldn’t eat. Others are facing impossible choices – like skipping meals so they can afford medical care and pay rent or utility bills.

This Hunger Action Month, you are the key to help with this crisis.  Says Campbell, “Together, we can make a difference for so many.”