After being closed for two years due to COVID, Franklin Food Bank’s most popular offering, the Client Choice Program, is back.
Franklin Food Bank has been a source of food for the greater Somerset County community, serving more than 2.5 million meals and 4 million pounds of food to thousands of customers since it opened in 1975. It serves more than 20,000 customers annually.
And every bag is filled and the food is given with dignity and respect to those in need, said the food bank’s executive director, Derek Smith.
“But the Customer Choice model has been able to better fulfill its mission of serving the nutritional needs of the community in an atmosphere of dignity and respect,” Smith said. “Our wonderful staff and volunteers are dedicated to our mission of helping our neighbors. We have enjoyed serving this community for nearly 50 years and will be here as long as there are families who need our support. Food insecurity affects everyone. “
Almost immediately after the Client Choice program was shut down in 2020, it had to be shut down as everything, even the way food was distributed, had to be re-evaluated and redesigned. It was like a “war on hunger,” Smith said.
The Franklin Food Bank just moved to a larger location in 2019 and launched a Client Choice Market that allowed families and individuals to come into the facility and shop by choosing their own food. The market is organized like a small grocery store with typical food categories such as produce, meat, dairy, frozen and bread.
“They could choose the things that they needed and that they liked best,” said Ellie O’Brien, director of development for the food bank. “It was a great success.”
The market has more than doubled the volume of services. In 2018, families visited the Franklin Food Bank to pick up packages 8,665 times. In 2019, it was visited 18,555 times.
During the pandemic, while the Customer Choice Program was closed, the Franklin Food Bank continued to serve approximately 10,000 families from March 2020 to December 2021. The nonprofit has returned to a fixed bag model outside for COVID safety when customers must were to make appointments to pick up food.
“This decision and execution was swift,” Smith said. “This reversal of the program occurred overnight, just as the federal state of emergency was declared. This new fixed bag model was offered as a curbside program where food bank staff packed up to 300 pounds of food into our customers’ cars. The family was offered up to two visits a month.’
Additional programs such as Community Distribution, Beyond Borders and Serve and Refer were also established.
The food bank’s client base has grown from a “reliably static number of 1,800 unique families each year” to more than “4,500 unique families from 2020 to 2021,” O’Brien said.
She said the Franklin Food Bank has taken in 1,000 new families from Franklin Township alone.
“This figure represents a 300% increase over 2019, a year already marked by unprecedented growth,” O’Brien said.
Now rebuilt and reopened, the Customer Choice Market offers a more impressive selection and volume of products than ever before, Smith said.
“The space is bigger and better designed with improved technology and materials — kiosk racks, refrigerated and freezer display cases, restaurant pagers to notify customers of their turn, updated checkout tablets and new and larger shopping carts,” he said.
Customers call to schedule an appointment, which helps regulate flow and keep the community safe. Once inside, they check in, grab a cart and buy whatever they want to feed their families. The menu details available categories and items.
“These menus also list points for items,” O’Brien said. “Families are assigned monthly shopping points based on their family size. There are also many zero-point items, including all-time fresh produce.”
Since relaunching the Customer Choice Program in March, Franklin Food Bank has served an average of 952 households each month and has seen an average of 3.5% monthly growth since May and up to 6% in June. The program provided comprehensive food assistance to more than 7,600 families.
Community outreach continues on the first Wednesday of each month at the Franklin Township Community Relations Bureau (“CRB”) headquarters, 935 Hamilton St. in part of Somerset township. The program starts at 11.00. and runs while supplies last. No registration is required for this program, which is open to all.
Its latest program, Beyond Borders, allows the Franklin Food Bank to help other nonprofits doing the important work of feeding their neighbors.
“Through community distribution and beyond, the food bank can also help thousands more, expanding their reach and deepening their impact,” Smith said. “Franklin Food Bank’s hybrid model is an innovative way to fight hunger while providing clients with an atmosphere filled with dignity and respect.”
The Franklin Food bank plans to expand in 2023 with additional services such as nutrition classes and online ordering. It also partners with local schools and colleges to provide services directly to students in need.
“This growth is not possible without our community supporting our efforts,” Smith said.
How to support the Needy Cases Fund
From Nov. 27 to Dec. 4, the Courier News, Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com are spotlighting 10 organizations serving Central Jersey as part of the annual Needy Cause Fund.
The Needy Cases Fund is a Central Jersey holiday tradition that dates back more than seven decades. The community project was sponsored by the Home News Tribune and its predecessor, the Daily Home News, in partnership with the Lions Club of New Brunswick. In 2022, “Kurrier-Novosti” will again join the “Tribune of Home News” in sponsoring the charity.
Send donations (checks made out to Needy Cases Fund or cash) to: Needy Cases Fund, Home News Tribune/Courier News, 92 E. Main St., Suite 202, Somerville, NJ 08876. Please do not make checks out to the Courier News Wish Book program this year. Please note whether you would like to be featured in the final story about the program or wish to remain anonymous.
Donations will be accepted until the end of December.
Please contact Carolyn Sampson at 908-243-6624 or csampson@mycentraljersey.com with any questions.
email: cmakin@gannettnj.com
Cheryl Makin is an award-winning film and education reporter for theMyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or@CherylMakin. For unlimited access, sign up or activate your digital account today.
