Food Drive- Mount Olive FREEdge

FOCUS ON PERISHABLES THIS MONTH!! Turkey Brook August 5^th 10AM-12PM

The Mount Olive FREEdge benefits the community 24/7. We are focusing very local this month! Stop by August 5 from 10 to noon with your donations! This vital service was made possible by President Bill Clinton, thanks to the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act!

PLEASE bring your perishables and non-perishables to benefit the Mount Olive community via the 24/7 FREEdge, located at 11 Brewster Place in Flanders. This refrigerator-freezer has been benefiting food-insecure families since it was established in 2022. With a focus on fresh produce, milk, eggs, yogurt, bread, meat and juice, the FREEdge relies on donations to keep food in stock. (Cash is accepted as well.)

More about the FREEdge-

What is food insecurity? It is the lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in the household to live an active and healthy lifestyle.

Where is there food insecurity? Everywhere! In 2020 there were over 31,000 folks in Morris County with food insecurity and some of those are in our township!

One of the things that was done in 2022 to help our Mount Olive community was the establishment of the Mount Olive FREEdge (refrigerator) by some very caring folks. The FREEdge is a sharing tool that aims to reduce food insecurity and food waste, building a stronger community. It’s surely been a win/win for the community, plus it helps keep food out of landfills! Movements such as this are protected by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

FREEdge Facts

• · The refrigerator is located at 11 Brewster Place in Flanders, which offers direct access and a level of privacy. Just pull up and open the FREEdge doors!
• · The food pantry is open 21 hours a month and the FREEdge is open 24×7.
• · Food types are different than the food pantry, in that the FREEdge focuses on perishables such as fresh produce, milk, eggs, yogurt, and meat.
• · The FREEdge is stocked by generous donors who buy food to donate or have leftovers to share.
• · Weekly volunteers ensure everything is clean, the FREEdge is organized, and the food is not expired.
• · There are home-cooked meals in the FREEdge donated by folks who cooked too much or cooked specifically for the FREEdge. There is even someone in the community who takes the vegetables that are about to expire and returns them as soup, and someone who took grape tomatoes and returned them as sauce!
• · Folks who don’t have time to shop donate money to the FREEdge’s overseers and get a receipt after food purchases are made.
• Everyone needs help in different ways at one time or another. People come by for many reasons: to grab a pizza for dinner after spending all day in the hospital with a sick parent, to grab a gallon of milk and some eggs for a sick child, to fill a gap when a paycheck doesn’t really stretch until the next one.
• You have all been so generous with your donations for the food pantry in the past. Let’s help our local folks this month by bringing things for the Mount Olive FREEdge! Bring perishables or whatever you can to the Mount Olive Democrats Monthly Food Drive on August 5! One of our volunteers will be going back and forth delivering the food so it stays cold.

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