Such commodities include peanut butter, juices, applesauce, etc. The Food Bank sponsors a co-operative buying program. Products are purchased in quantity and offered at a price that competes favorably with other sources and offers greater shopping convenience. This statewide collaborative program has allowed the Food Bank to distribute over 200,000 pounds of fresh produce from area growers. The Food Bank distributes professionally-processed venison, donated by local hunters through the Hunters Helping the Hungry program, to member agencies.
Hunters can take deer to be processed at one of five local participating butchers.
The processing fees are paid for by a fund made up of community and corporate donations. Last year, over 46,000 pounds of venison was donated to the Food Bank through the venison program. Since the Food Bank is not a government agency, it relies heavily on fundraisers to raise funds for the organization's operation. One of the largest fundraisers, which originated in 1998, is our thrift shop where community donations of gently used and new items are sold at reduced prices. The thrift shop, located in Phillipsburg, NJ, is open to the public five days a week.