Women Fighting Hunger

Women Fighting Hunger members regularly volunteer at CFBNJ locations, supporting operations and serving neighbors directly. Volunteer opportunities include:

• Participating in warehouse volunteer shifts at the Hillside warehouse. To sign up to volunteer with Women Fighting Hunger in Hillside, click here.
• Many of our WFH members choose to spend time volunteering at the Garfield Unity Pantry which supports local neighbors in need. To sign up to volunteer with in Garfield, click here.
• Serving as pantry assistants at the Community Assistance Pantry in Egg Harbor Township by stocking shelves, sorting produce, organizing refrigerators and freezers, assisting shoppers, bagging items, packing groceries, and maintaining the pantry space. To sign up to volunteer with Women Fighting Hunger in Egg Harbor Township, click here.

These volunteer opportunities provide meaningful ways for members to contribute their time while directly supporting CFBNJ’s mission.

This annual drive brings together Women Fighting Hunger members, along with their spouses, family, and friends and other members of the community to collect turkeys, non-perishable food items, and monetary donations before Thanksgiving. Members staff various locations throughout the state.

Women Fighting Hunger supports college students experiencing food insecurity through a network of college pantry partnerships. Volunteers serve as liaisons to campus pantries, helping provide guidance, resources, and connections. Regular forums bring together pantry managers to share ideas, collaborate, and strengthen support for students across New Jersey.

For more information about CFBNJ’s college pantries, click here.

Women Fighting Hunger members support CFBNJ’s advocacy efforts by helping raise awareness of food insecurity and encouraging community engagement in policy and public education initiatives. Volunteers assist with outreach, resource development, and efforts that empower supporters to take action in addressing food insecurity.

For more information about CFBNJ’s advocacy efforts, click here.

From time to time, Women Fighting Hunger volunteers assist CFBNJ staff with initiatives that help CFBNJ better understand the needs of our partner agencies and the communities they serve. This includes supporting survey and outreach efforts with partner agencies to gather insights that inform programs, strengthen partnerships, and guide resource distribution across the state, ensuring that every donation has the greatest possible impact. These projects are available on an ad-hoc basis. Fill out this form to be added to our email list where we keep members apprised of these kinds of projects.

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Throughout the year, Women Fighting Hunger members organize community drives that support CFBNJ programs. Past initiatives have included collections of coffee/tea, spices, and household/hygiene items that were collected and distributed through the Community Assistance Pantry and partner agencies.

While CFBNJ must prioritize its resources to purchase nutritious food, these everyday items are also important to our neighbors’ daily lives and sense of dignity. Because they are not food, they are often unable to be purchased with SNAP dollars.

Diaper need is the lack of a sufficient number of diapers to keep a baby clean, dry, and healthy. Without consistent access to diapers, babies are more vulnerable to painful rashes, urinary tract infections, and have more trips to the doctor.

In the fall and alongside Diaper Need Awareness week (mid-Sept each year), Women Fighting Hunger leads the Great Big Diaper Drive (#GBDD), a monthslong initiative that is executed statewide which collects diapers, baby essentials, and financial contributions to support families experiencing diaper need. Through community drives, partnerships, and individual fundraising efforts, members help provide thousands of diapers and critical resources to neighbors in need each year.

For every dollar donated, CFBNJ can purchase 6 diapers to support families in need.

Period poverty is the lack of material basic necessities needed to safely and hygienically manage a menstrual cycle. Each spring, Women Fighting Hunger, in tandem with Period Poverty Awareness Week (mid-May each year) hosts the Great Big Period Product Drive (#GBPPD) to raise awareness about period poverty while collecting menstrual hygiene products and financial contributions for CFBNJ programs. Members organize community drives, educational events, and outreach efforts to help ensure individuals have access to essential hygiene products.

CFBNJ can purchase period supplies for a person in need for an entire year just for $36.

The annual Women Fighting Hunger Luncheon brings together supporters from across New Jersey each October to raise critical funds and awareness for CFBNJ. The event features opportunities for community engagement, including keynote speakers, networking, silent auctions, and service projects such as assembling college meal kits or collecting food for college pantries.

Since its inception, the Women Fighting Hunger Luncheon has been at the forefront of the fight against food insecurity, and your support has made a powerful difference. This gathering is where we confront the harsh realities of food insecurity, where we learn from lived experiences, and where we come together to build a better future for the children, students, and families who need our support, our voice and our action.