Food banks in New York and New Jersey were already hard-pressed to meet the demands of families struggling with a bad economy. Add to that a natural disaster and the upcoming holidays, and they’re looking at a whole new set of challenges.
Preparation did help some organizations. Five days before Superstorm Sandy hit the Jersey Shore, the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties got its new generator up and running. Thank goodness for that, says Executive Director Carlos Rodriguez.
“Our freezer was full of turkeys. We were on generator power as soon as the power went out. And that really gave us kind of a head start,” Rodriguez says. “With so many stores having lost power and having to throw away so much food, we were able to save something that, quite frankly, right now was priceless.”
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