Not All Food Pantries Are the Same — Here’s How to Help Effectively

Food pantries play a vital role in supplementing the food assistance system. For every meal a pantry provides, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) typically provides nine. With the temporary shutdown of SNAP, this balance has been disrupted, and pantries are working hard to fill the gap.

We’re incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from the community. However, with so much information circulating on social media, we want to clarify an important point:

Every Pantry Is Different

Not all food pantries have the same capacity or resources. Some may not be able to accept or store perishable items like milk due to limited refrigeration or freezer space. Others may have different food distribution models or storage limitations.

That’s why well-meaning donations—like cases of milk—may not always be helpful to every pantry.

The Best Way to Help? Ask First.

To make the biggest impact, we encourage you to contact your local pantry directly and ask what they need most. Financial donations are always appreciated and allow pantries to purchase exactly what’s needed. But when it comes to food donations, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

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How You Can Support the Barry J. Vine Food Pantry at JFS

We’re currently focused on collecting items that can be paired together to create full meals, especially as we approach the holiday season.

Donate Funds:
Click here to make a financial contribution, which maximizes our spending power for the pantry to purchase quantities at discount.

Donate Food:
We’re especially in need of the following:

Breakfast Items

• Cereal (for kids and adults)
• Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat
• Kid-friendly juice or milk boxes

Lunch & Dinner

• Canned soups, broths, pasta, chili
• Canned chicken, tuna, salmon
• Pasta (all shapes)
• Peanut butter and jelly

Meal Sides

• Microwaveable rice and pasta
• Stuffing, Rice-a-Roni, Couscous, Quinoa
• Tuna Helper, Hamburger Helper

Drinks

• Powdered milk envelopes
• Coffee (ground or instant), tea bags, hot chocolate
• Juice and milk boxes for kids

Condiments

• Ketchup, mustard (yellow and spicy), mayo
• BBQ sauce, salad dressings, relish

Canned Vegetables

• Potatoes (whole, diced, sliced)
• Peas, carrots, corn, green beans
• Beets, yams, spinach, collards
• Pigeon peas, black-eyed peas

Holiday & Baking Items

• Sugar, flour
• Cake and brownie mixes, frosting

Donation Drop-Off:
Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 AM – 4 PM
Need another time? Call us at (203) 397-0796 to schedule.

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Born in Amsterdam in 1925, Ruth’s life is a powerful testament to resilience and courage. During World War II, she bravely escaped a concentration camp—by bicycle. Her handwritten memoirs, a deeply personal account of survival and strength, have been submitted to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C.

Thanks to support from the Claims Conference (Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany) , Ruth continues to live independently in her own home, receiving the care and services she needs.

Pictured here with Ruth is Amanda Skelton, our dedicated Holocaust Survivors Case Manager. To honor this incredible milestone, JFS presented Ruth with a Centennial Award, recognizing her enduring spirit and extraordinary life.

Ruth, your story inspires us all.

Happy 100th Birthday!

With the High Holiday upon us, we would like to remind donors about our non-perishable foods donation guidelines.

All food should be newly purchased. 

Please avoid oversized containers and packaging (such as 5 or 10 lbs. bags of rice).

Please avoid glass containers which can break in transport or during processing. 

All items should be checked to verify they are not past their use by or expiration date. We do not accept any expired food. 

For health and safety reasons, we cannot accept any open containers, boxes or repackaged items.

Here are the most requested foods: 

Canned beans (red, pink, black eyed peas, cannellini, lentils, pigeon peas, butter beans, roman beans)

Cereal  – all types

Boxed oatmeal, Steel cut oatmeal, cream of rice.

Soups & Broths (all varieties canned or carton)

Microwavable Pasta and meals

Microwavable Rice pouches

Canned Fruits or fruit cups  

Boxed Pasta (angel hair, fettuccini, shells, bowties, rigatoni, orzo, pastina, ditalini, penne, ziti, bagged egg noodles)

Canned Chili, Stew, Canned chicken

Solid White tuna

Canned vegetables such as Carrots, potatoes, spinach, sauerkraut, beets, mushrooms

Tea, coffee (ground or instant) and hot chocolate

Join us the the JFS Inclusivity Celebration on Friday, August 16, 2024 celebrating Rachel Scolnic Dobin’s new position as Inclusivity Director at the JCC. The event will be from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. (brief program at 12:15 p.m.) in the Vine Auditorium, 360 Amity Road in Woodbridge.  The event will bring together members of our Holocaust Survivors Program the JFS Shalom Group; the Cafe J team from The Schleifer Center at Chapel Haven; past & present Board members, JFS staff and our JFS donors who generously support our mission.