With continued uncertainty about SNAP benefits, food drives continue, and the need remains great at the local food pantries and the food banks, South Orange Maplewood Health Officer Candice Davenport reported to the South Orange Village Council/Board of Health on Monday.
“The community rallied around families in need of SNAP benefits and those who were food insecure,” Candice Davenport said. “Governor Murphy’s administration was able to fulfill all of the SNAP benefits for November. We’re still not sure what’s going to happen for December and moving onward, so we still want to make sure that people are aware of all the food drives as well as any food distribution locations, both locally in SOMA as well as through the county. So we’ll keep updating that list and provide that to everyone as we keep going.”
Council Member Olivia Lewis-Chang highlighted the South Orange Police Department PBA Local 12’s 2025 Thanksgiving turkey distribution on Monday in the pocket park on the corner of Irvington and West Fairview Avenues, where they gave away nearly 100 turkeys within an hour.
“While we are very grateful of the contribution of local supermarkets, we also recognize the great need in our community that this happened so quickly,” she said, adding that the Council hopes that residents will continue to give to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside and the local food pantries, including the Little Fridge and St. Joe’s in Maplewood and Our Lady of Sorrows in South Orange.
Davenport noted the the Dept. of Health is maintaining a list of South Orange and Maplewood restaurants that are still offering assistance to SNAP recipients, which can be found here. The spreadsheet also includes a tab for “Food Drives.” The department will continue to update this spreadsheet, she said.
“Some of them said that they’ll go through the end of the year to provide services to anyone who still needs it,” she said. “If you are looking for more information, please contact us at [email protected].”
The Health Department also has a form for local restaurants to use if they’re offering discount for any SNAP recipients in need, she said.
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