THUMBS UP ALL AROUND: HomeFront Family Campus Director Sheila Addison, left, and Campus Kitchen Technician Kori Smith hold up two of the hundreds of meal bags from Princeton University’s Summer Food and Nutrition Program that HomeFront will deliver each week to homeless individuals and families living in motels on Route 1, families with toddlers living on the HomeFront Campus in Ewing, and children’s summer camps.

By Donald Gilpin

In ongoing efforts to combat hunger in Mercer County, Princeton University has embarked on the second year of its Summer Food and Nutrition Program to address pandemic-related food insecurity.

From June 7 through July 2, the University is collaborating with HomeFront, Rescue Mission of Trenton, and Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) to provide meals prepared by Princeton University staff for at-risk families, children, and other individuals. The initiative was started last year in collaboration with area nonprofits to help combat food insecurity for needy area residents during the pandemic.

Established by the University’s Campus Dining, Human Resources, Office of Community and Regional Affairs, and John H. Pace, Jr. ’39 Center for Civic Engagement, the program offers continuity of employment, including health benefits, to the Campus Dining employees, who normally work for nine months a year.

“Princeton University has put a lot of time, thought, and care into building menus which are healthy, account for different preferences, are nicely packaged, and easy for HomeFront’s volunteers to deliver,” said Home Front Support Service Liaison Liza Peck.

The program provides 950 lunch and dinner meals, delivered each week by HomeFront to homeless individuals and families living in motels on Route 1, families with toddlers living on the HomeFront campus in Lawrence, and children’s summer camps.

Peck added, “HomeFront’s camp and Family Campus have a menu ahead of time, which is nice, and the residents at the motels are always excited to see what’s in store for lunch and dinner that day. Across all of our programs, our staff has been hearing how much our clients are enjoying this delicious food.”

For those in recovery and treatment and those who are homeless and living at the Rescue Mission of Trenton, the University’s Summer Food and Nutrition Program is providing more than 8,500 meals during four weeks this summer.

“This is the second summer in a row that the University has been here for those we serve who are experiencing homelessness and those who are in recovery treatment at the Mission,” said Mission CEO Barrett Young. “All our hearts are lifted by the University’s generosity, compassion, and commitment to address food insecurity, particularly during this pandemic which is challenging us all like never before. We are thankful to be in this together with the caring and generous leaders at Princeton University and look forward to collaborating in the future.”

The University program is also providing 1,200 lunch meals for TASK every week. “We’re very grateful to Princeton University for preparing the meals this summer,” said TASK Executive Director Joyce Campbell.

“We’ve been inundated with requests since the pandemic began, and we appreciate Princeton University’s generosity. It gives us something different to eat and provides our kitchen staff a bit of a breather.”

TASK offers a variety of services to feed those who are hungry in the Trenton area and offer programs to encourage self-sufficiency and improve the quality of life. All of TASK’s programs are free and available to anyone, no questions asked.

The Princeton University’s Campus Dining culinary team, led by executive chefs Tommy Thothongkum and Brian Driscoll and executive pastry chef Brian Schoenbeck have created the menus, and, along with their teams, are producing approximately 3,800 meals a week to be distributed in surrounding communities.

David Dembek, associate retail director; Paul Dylik, assistant director of catering; Donna Pilenza, director of residential dining; Cristian Vasquez, director of retail and catering operations; Erin Metro, associate director for community relations; and David Brown, assistant director of the Pace Center, are overseeing the planning and direction of the food program.

“I was very happy when I found out the University would be willing to fund the program again this summer,” said Vasquez. “Not only does this secure employment for our Campus Dining employees during the summer, but it also allows us to produce nutritious meals to support our local community organizations who are assisting individuals and families in need.”

He added, “I know how important this is for all of us in our community, especially as we come out of this pandemic that has affected so many individuals and families in ways we couldn’t have imagined.”