The Rise Food Pantry: Rising to Meet the Challenge of Hunger in our Communities

Molly* works as a per-diem secretary at a local hospital, and Jerry* recently got a part-time job at a national shipping and delivery company.

The same day he learned he would be hired, they lost their housing and their car broke down.

So now the couple and their 8-month-old are living in a motel. On their first night, a woman who Molly describes as an angel – they don’t know who she was or where she came from — suddenly showed up with a list of local social service resources.

The Rise Food Pantry in Hightstown was one of them.

“This amazing,” said Molly of the pantry, during the couple’s first visit. “I was definitely panicking a bit beforehand. But I looked it up online and all the positive reviews are 100 percent correct. It feels like a store. It doesn’t take away your dignity when asking for help.”

The couple, who are in their 20s, were among the 85 to 90 families who are helped on an average morning at the pantry, which is open three days a week and three nights a month.

Support from the Princeton Area Community Foundation

Rise, which also provides social services, after-school and summer programs, and runs a thrift store, is a longtime grantee partner of the Princeton Area Community Foundation.

In the last 30 years, it has received more than $2.8 million in grants from the Community Foundation, including funding from the Community Impact Grants, Summer Initiative Grants, the Fund for Women and Girls, the NextGen Giving Circle, the Bunbury Fund, the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Development Fund, and the COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Fund, along with support from individuals through their Community Foundation donor advised funds.

“At some of the most critical moments for Rise, the Princeton Area Community Foundation has stepped forward in meaningful ways,” said Leslie Koppel, the Executive Director of Rise. “Their support sustained our programs during COVID, continues to strengthen our summer camp, and invests in staff training that builds our organizational capacity. Through the Fund for Women and Girls, they support single parents, and through the NextGen Giving Circle, they expand workforce training opportunities at Rise Thrift. Most recently, their investment made it possible to place a full-time Case Manager directly in the pantry to ensure that every family not only receives food but has someone to turn to for answers and support, delivered in a way that preserves dignity.”

Demand for Services

Since the pandemic, the Rise Pantry has seen a nearly 5-fold increase in demand for services. Most of the adult clients whose employment status is known are either working or retired.

Donated Food, Diapers and Personal Care Products

Food donations for the pantry come from grocery and big box stores, local shops and nonprofit partners as well as individuals, said Juan Cobos, Rise Pantry Director. Rise also purchases food, including produce from local farmers. Diapers, pet food and personal care products are also available, he said.

Because it’s a choice pantry, families get to decide what food to bring home, with limits set based on family size. Twice a month, local chefs stop by with recipe demonstrations, using food available at the pantry. At the last demonstration, clients learned how to make canned salmon casserole.

The cost of the average cart’s contents would total between $350 to $600 if the families at the free pantry were shopping at a supermarket.

“With the prices of everything nowadays it’s hard to get by,” Jerry said. “This helps us from falling behind on other bills or car insurance.”

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the clients.