NJ serves up red tape for restaurants and hungry residents

Kim Guadagno is still cutting red tape while she is feeding thousands

By Art Gallagher

N.J. Looks to Award $2 Million to Buy Meals from Struggling Restaurants – A $2 million state program to provide $100,000 grants to organizations that purchase meals from restaurants impacted by the pandemic and distribute them at no cost to New Jersey residents has begun taking applications. Applications are due by Jan. 8. Click here for more information. (ROI-NJ) 

I got excited when I read the above headline and lede in yesterday’s NJ Chamber of Commerce’s daily Coronavirus and Economic Recovery Update.

The RAINE Foundation immediately occurred to me as an organization that could spring to action and support local businesses while feeding those struggling to put food on the table. In my mind I was thinking of other community organizations and restaurants that could participate.

My enthusiasm quickly dissipated when I clicked through to Business.NJ.Gov and read the fine print. There’s the usual hoops to jump through for government work–proving your entity is registered with the state and has no outstanding tax issues. But there’s one big obstacle that would probably knock my friends at RAINE, the Highlands Business Partnership, Middletown Helps Its Own and other non-profits from participating in the NJ Economic Development Authority’s grant program.

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Pandemic in NJ forces 1.2 million to become ‘food insecure,’ report says

Number surges by 56% this year, higher than national rate due to hard-hit hospitality and leisure industries

By Jon Hurdle, NJSpotlight

The number of New Jerseyans who have uncertain access to healthy food is expected to increase by more than 50% by the end of this year because of the pandemic, bringing the total of “food insecure” people to 1.2 million, or 13.5% of the population, according to a report issued on Wednesday.

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Busy N.J. food bank takes new name to reflect expanded duties

NEPTUNE — In the world of hunger relief, helping people in need now requires more than providing them with food to stretch their grocery budgets, advocates say. To be effective, hunger relief also has to be accompanied by help with finding a job signing up for government assistance or filling out their income tax returns to… Read the rest of this entry »

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