We Can’t Let this Bank Fail

I’ll keep it simple.

More people are hungry. There’s less food to give. Each and every one of us needs to help. And each and every one of us can in a simple and rewarding way.

As the New York Times reported last week in an article titled “From Canned Goods to Fresh, Food Banks Adapt,” food banks are now accepting homemade foods from regular folks like you and me.

Although I can’t take credit for this growing trend, I do feel pretty confident that we played a small role in this subtle revolution. Several years ago, The Cooking With Friends Club approached the Montclair Human Needs Food Pantry with a novel idea: We wanted people to get together with a friend to make fresh foods — soups, breads, etc. — to be distributed by the Food Pantry. Although they were receptive to the idea, they hesitated. They had logical and legitimate concerns about quality control and liability. With some gentle encouragement and a trust in humanity, they took the plunge. And from our perspective, it turned out to be one of the most rewarding endeavors that our members took part in. We’ve done it numerous times since then and the number of participants has been steadily growing.

Now, two years later, food pantries across the United States are beginning to accept homemade foods. In grocery bags packed by hardworking volunteers, homemade pies, breads and soups are increasingly being nestled between canned goods and boxed foods. Nowadays, there are just too many hungry people for food banks to turn down homemade foods.

Members of The Cooking With Friends Club have discovered the power and pleasure of friends cooking together for our own needs — meeting the dinnertime challenge let’s say. And now, more and more of us are recognizing how powerful the simple act of cooking together can be as a means to give. In reflecting on the first “Souper Bowl,” a Cooking With Friends charity event we started doing with the Montclair Human Needs Food Pantry two years ago, a member summed up a modest, yet profound moment: “It tapped a need most of us have to give to the community in a meaningful but uncomplicated way in otherwise overscheduled lives.”

So, my friends, my message to you is thank you and keep up the good work. I have every confidence that a communal outpouring can help sustain these vital food bank organizations. We can make a difference. And have fun while doing it. Spread the word. And let’s not let this bank fail.

Participating Bloggers for “We Can’t Let This Bank Fail” campaign:

1) JerseyBites.com
2) RedBankGreen.com
3) Jersey Girl Cooks.
4) Simply Sable
5) John and Lisa are eating in South Jersey
6) Padma’s Kitchen
7) Chefdruck
8) Life Lightly Salted
9) My Italian Grandmother
10) Cook Appeal
11) Crotchety Old Man Yells at Cars
12) Mommy Vents
13) This Full House
14) Paper Bridges
15) Motherhood Avenue
16) The Kamienski Chronicles
17) Down the Shore with Jen
18) Fits and Giggles
19) House Hubbies Home Cooking
20) Nourish Ourselves
21) Partybluprints.com
22) Tommyeats.com
23) Off the broiler
24) Mrs. Mo’s New Jersey Baby
25) IamNotaChef.com
26) SimplyBeer.com
27) HistoryGeek.com
28) Savy Source Newark
29) Momlogic New Jersey
30) SurvivingNJ.com/blog
31) SurvivingNJ.blogspot.com
32) JerseyGirlGuide.com
33) Best of Roxy
34) Citizen Mom.net
35) Lynetteradio.com
36) Jersey Beat
37) Pop Vulture Phil
38) JerseySmarts.com
39) LongBeachIslandSummers.com
40) WildwoodSummers.com
41) Mike Halfacres Blog
42) Somerset08873
43) Family, Friends and Food
44) KateSpot.com
45) NewJerseyMomsBlog.com
46) JCRigister.com
47) New Jersey Real Estate Report
48) Riverviewobserver.com
49) More Monmouth Musings
50) Man of Infirmity
51) Another Delco Guy in South Jersey
52) SweetNicks.com
53) Average Noone
54) Cleary’s Notebook
55) Welcome to my Planet
56) The Center of New Jersey Life
57) Sharon’s Food Blog
58) Morristown, Chatham, Summit, and Madison NJ Real Estate
59) Midtown Direct Real Estate News
60) New Jersey Real Estate
61) BlowUpRadio.com
62) LazlosDen.com
63) The Ridgewood Blog
64) Book a Week with Jen
65) Banannie
66) Cartoongoddess.com
67) Matawan Advocate
68) Take Back the Kitchen
69) The Joy of Toast
70) Route 55
71) Montclair Kids.com
72) SaveJersey
73) Stompbox
74) Joe the Blogger
75) Environmental Republican
76) Stacey Snacks
77) Subversive Garden
78) New Jersey Pathfinder
79) Cooking With Friends Blog
80) Triple Venti
81) Read All About It
82) Rich Lee on Media
83) Likelihood of Success
84) Cape Cuisine
85) The Business At Hand
86) NewJerseyTaxRevolution
87) Figmentations
88) MiddletownMike
89) Caviar and Codfish
90) A Day in the Life
91) Mack’s Journey Through Life
92) Alice’s Restaurant
93) Tiger Hawk
94)Politics Patrol, The Bob Ingle Blog
95) The Food Chain
96) Henson’s Hell
97) Cranbury Conservative
98) Baristanet
99) New Jersey: Politics Unusual
100) Jersey Shore Blog
101) Plainfield Today
102) Beacon Bulletin
103) Journal Square Jersey City 07306
104) Blogging Chris