Barnegat Food Pantry Gets Big Boost From Fundraiser

Barbara Slamp got a shock when she opened the mail last week.

The director of the Barnegat Emergency Food Pantry was at her desk in the pantry's downtown building when she opened a plain-looking brown envelope stamped with 84 cents worth of postage.

After a glance at the letter inside, she screamed for one of the volunteers in the next room.

“I almost fainted,” she said. “I was in tears.”

In the letter was word that this year’s Taste of Southern Ocean Hunger Relief Dinner, a fundraiser for local food banks organized annually by the Southern Ocean Chamber of Commerce and the Southern Ocean County Community Foundation, was issuing the pantry a check for $10,000.

Slamp said it’s the largest single donation the pantry has received in the decade she’s been at the helm.

The annual dinner, which features food prepared by some of the areas most celebrated chefs, has successfully been raising funds for seven Ocean County food banks for 16 years.

On May 3, 200 people attended the 2011 event at the Sea Oaks Country Club in Little Egg Harbor – and gave generously.

Lori Pepenella, destination marketing director for the Chamber, said the event raised $70,000 – more than any other year so far. The money will be divided among the pantries at a luncheon at the Holiday Inn in Manahawkin on Tuesday, July 12.

Pepenella said the dinner's success is largely due to the efforts of Dan Taylor from the Manahawkin-based Anderson Agency and Chef Ian Smith of the Ocean County Vocational and Technical Schools’ culinary arts program.

“They’re very, very dedicated to this cause,” Pepenella said. “This is their baby.”

And each year, it brings crucial support. “It comes at a time when pantries are at their lowest,” she said. “In spring and summer, people aren’t necessarily thinking about the food pantries, but the need is still there."

The Barnegat pantry, located in the municipal lot on North Main Street a block from the intersection with Bay Avenue, feeds as many as 200 local residents a month, relying on a network of loyal volunteers and the generosity of residents and local grocery stores to keep shelves and refrigerators stocked and clients cared for. It also houses a thrift store with clothing, household items and more.

There are plenty of ways to spend such a generous donation, Slamp said. She’s been hoping to buy a trailer of some kind to park behind the building for extra storage space. In their small building, it’s always at a premium.

But she has plans to make the bulk of the donation pay off for the pantry over the long term through a careful investment.

In the meantime, she’s still getting over the happy surprise.

“It was amazing,” she said. “It was like, ‘There is somebody thinking of us.’”

Want to help? Send money donations to the Barnegat Emergency Food Pantry, P.O. Box 816, Barnegat, NJ 08005, or call 609-698-7174 during the pantry's regular hours (10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday). Donations of non-perishable food are also welcome, as well as gently used household goods.

Need help? Call the Ocean County Board of Social Services at 732-349-1500 for information on how to become a client at the pantry.