Family First: Back-To-School For Families In Need
(CBS) NEW YORK - Back to school often means shopping for new clothes and supplies, but for many people that's not the case. There are children in low-income families who never get new clothes for school or basic supplies for class.

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey is trying to make sure kids and teachers have what they need. Richard Uniacke is the Director of the FoodBank's Kids Division. He took time to sit down with CBS 2's Cindy Hsu.

Action Against Hunger™ Food Drive
The 16th annual Action Against Hunger™ Food Drive will be held on Sunday, October 14, 2007, from noon to 4 p.m. at more than 100 locations across northern New Jersey, including most local supermarkets. Food and cash donations are needed to help stock the pantries against the looming demands of the holiday season and winter months. This community service program, sponsored by the North Jersey Media Group Foundation, helps more than 60 emergency food pantries in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Morris counties provide sustenance to people and families in urgent need.

Spring '07 Food Drive Champion
C.R. Bard of Murray Hill runs food drives for the Community FoodBank every year — sometimes even twice a year — and usually during the spring or summer when food drive donations often drop off and pantries are most in need. Their most recent effort resulted in a 77 percent increase over last year’s event.  Asked how the change occurred, Food Drive Leader Loretta Young listed several motivational incentives, including a Guess the Weight contest and a FoodBank Honor Roll.

Panera Bread Supports Food Service Training Academy

Panera Bread recently presented a check for $10,000 to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in support of its Food Service Training Academy. The Academy’s fourteen week program is for qualified applicants who are interested in a career in food services. It focuses on culinary arts, baking with hands-on training, cooking skills, and menu planning...

American Idols LIVE!
We were thrilled to offer a special opportunity to see the American Idols LIVE! Tour as a way to support the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in the process. 

On August 29th the American Idols LIVE! put on an exciting performance for an extremely responsive crowd at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford.

Silent Auction a Fantastic Success
The Community FoodBank is fortunate to have special partnerships with many corporate groups who donate their volunteer time and funds to help those  in need.  One of our newest partners came aboard this May: The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

Kids in the Kitchen
Some exciting things have been happening in our Kids Cafe world.  With the addition of four new Kids Cafes at the Boys & Girls Clubs in Jersey City, Paterson and Hoboken and the after-school program at the Lady of Liberty Academy in Newark, we now have 10 Kids Cafes serving free evening meals five days a week to approximately 1,000 low-income children.

Check-Out Hunger 2007 Needs Volunteers
Check-Out Hunger 2006 was a big success at the supermarkets in New Jersey.  We need your help to make the 2007 campaign even better.  From late September through December (or January at some stores), shoppers can help people in need by selecting a donation slip and having the cashier add the amount to the bill.  100% of the contribution in our service area comes to the Community FoodBank of NJ.

Kraft Family Volunteer Day
Kraft Foods observed Hunger Awareness Day by sending 12 pallets of kid-friendly Kraft products and a team of volunteers to our Family Volunteer Open House.

FoodBank Board member Michael Senackerib, a Senior VP at Kraft, along with his daughter Ariel, Angela Wiggins, Manager of Community Contributions, and the Kraft team stuffed 500 boxes for our Backpack Program to help children at risk of hunger over the weekend  when school meals aren’t available.

FSTA Celebrates 22 Graduates!
On June 29, 22 students in our Food Service Training Academy completed the intensive 14-week curriculum to prepare them for careers in the food service industry. In addition to diplomas, most of the graduates also earned their ServSafe certificates.