Where Can I Donate Food to the Needy?

Many local families face the threat of not having enough to eat every night, this holiday season you can do something to help those in need by donating to food pantries in Essex County.

Food pantries typically advise donors to provide non-perishable food items, common household goods and items such as diapers for infants; donors should also avoid donating anything in glass containers.

Some of the most needed items, according to Action Against Hunger, include, canned meat and fish, canned fruit and 100 percent fruit juice, canned pasta, stew, chili, hearty soup; canned tomatoes, vegetables, pasta sauce; pasta, white and brown rice, dried beans; cold cereal, oatmeal, pancake mix; peanut butter and jelly; powered or evaporated milk, Parmalat; baby food, formula, diapers, Pull-Ups; toilet paper and paper towels.

Here are a list of nearby food pantries:

• Bloomfield
  Bethel Church of Love and Praise
  55 Lawrence St.
  973-566-9100
  
  Bloomfield Church on the Green
  147 Broad St.
  973-743-1796

• Caldwell
  Caldwell Food Pantry
  14 Park St.
  973-403-4623

• East Orange
  East Orange Community Development
  490 Main St.
  973-266-5315
  
  New Hope Baptist Church
  144 Norman St.
  973-678-4489
  
  Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
  153 Glenwood Ave.
  973-678-7925

• Irvington
  Church of Women United
  1240 Clinton Ave.
  973-373-5930

• Maplewood
  St. Joseph’s Church
  241 Hilton St.
  973-761-5933

• Montclair
  First Seventh Day Adventist Church
  15 Elmwood Ave.
  973-746-1911
  
  Human Needs Food Pantry
  9 Label St.
  973-746-4669

• Newark
  Apostles’ House
  22 Grant St.
  973-482-6609
  
  Bessie Green Community Center, North Reformed Church
  510 Broad St.
  973-623-3198
  
  Blessed Sacrament Church
  15 Van Ness Place
  973-824-6549
  
  First Hopewell Baptist Church
  525 Orange St.
  973-485-8100
  
  Grace Reformed Church
  31 Blum St.
  973-643-8739
  
  St. James AME Church 
  588 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
  973-622-1344
  
  St. James Church 
  144 Madison St.
  973-344-8322
  
  Parish of the Transfiguration
  212 Hunterdon St.
  973-642-4217
  
  St. Mary’s Church/Pierre Toussaint Food Pantry
  528 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.  
  973-792-5790

• Orange
  Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges
  105 Main St.
  973-544-8899

• South Orange
  Our Lady of Sorrows Church
  217 Prospect St.
  973-763-9506

• West Orange
  Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
  315 Main St.
  973-380-6923