Non-profit distributes thousands of food boxes to local New Jersey residents facing food insecurity

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The Share & Care Foundation based in New Jersey in coordination with  Livingston Lions Club volunteered and provided funding for distribution of more than 5,000 food boxes — and weighing more than 150,000 pounds — consisting of dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other pantry items to families in several municipalities across New Jersey including Roselle, Harrison, Paterson, Trenton, and Jersey City from Dec. 11 to Dec. 22, 2020, according to a press release from the foundation on Jan. 15, 2020.

Speaking to Share & Care Trustee Amar Shah at the recent food distribution event in Roselle, Roselle Mayor Donald A. Shaw remarked, “Because of you, over a thousand people will be able to eat food tonight.”

United States Department of Agriculture estimates that nearly 1 in 4 U.S. households experienced food insecurity in 2020, and New Jersey’s food insecurity rate is projected to climb from a 2010–2020 low of 8.7 percent (11.3 percent for children under 18) to 13.5 percent in 2021.

All of which prompted Share & Care to take on the challenge of helping local residents. “Like everywhere, there are people in desperate need for others to stand up and care for those who are struggling during this difficult time,” as Share & Care president, Sharadkumar Shah said in the press release.

The non-profit organization dedicated to bringing education, health care, village upliftment, and women empowerment to rural India provided help to an estimated 45,000 individuals under various programs throughout India in 2020. This included COVID assistance — including education, PPE, and food assistance.

• Nutrition and health projects in five Thar Desert villages reached close to 6,000 women, men, and teens.
• A follow-up program in tribal areas of Saurashtra, Gujarat designed to lower out-of-hospital death rates among children and premature babies with low birth weight through regularly scheduled home visits and exams.
• A comprehensive community health program in 25 villages in Nanded, Maharashtra, training and preparing mothers to take full responsibility for their and their child’s health and nutrition.
• A program working with 100 women across 870 villages in the Thiruthuraipoondi block in Tamil Nadu addressing the socio-demographic factors affecting a crucial period in women’s lives: pregnancy.
• Essential health services projects in five villages in the Kangpokpi and Imphal West districts of Manipur for children and women consisting mostly of Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Other Backward Classes.

Share & Care foresees an ongoing and increased need for disaster relief into the new year. Plans are currently underway in partnership with organizations in India, to provide vocational rehabilitation due to the tremendous migration of labor moving away from India’s city centers and into rural villages throughout India.