Our Story

A Need We Feed was established as a Grass Roots community of volunteers in Ocean County in October of 2012 after Superstorm Sandy devastated many homes and businesses along the New Jersey Shore. 

A Need We Feed’s inaugural feeding was organized to provide Thanksgiving meals to First Responders on the barrier island, who were displaced from their families during the holiday while protecting the homes, businesses, and citizens after the storm. Our way of showing appreciation for their efforts to “Restore the Shore” and provide comfort, hope, and confidence for citizens by giving back to families and friends in need in our local community. 

After our Thanksgiving feeding, our core group of organizers decided we wanted to continue our mission of providing hot, nutritious, prepared meals to our local community. We then decided to organize another feeding for Christmas, not only for first responders but for anyone in need of a hot meal. Through our network of restaurants, chefs, business owners, and volunteers, we cooked, packaged, prepared, and delivered over 1,000 meals. 100% of the food and supplies were donated by local supermarkets, restaurants, bakeries, beverage vendors, restaurant suppliers, and the local community. This tradition has continued every Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a summer BBQ meal. 

In the last ten years, we have grown from a grassroots group of local volunteers who organized to provide meals to our local community to a full-fledged registered 501c3 non-profit organization. We prepare, package, and deliver over 11,000 hot meals per year to Veterans, children, families, and the homeless in need while partnering with many organizations within the community. 

After the Covid-19 lockdown, A Need We Feed was able to switch gears and obtain funding from the NJEDA (New Jersey Economic Development Authority) through the New Jersey Sustain and Serve grant. This grant provided funding to purchase freshly prepared meals from our local small business restaurants to provide for our community. This was especially helpful for our local restaurant business owners as their doors were shut at the height of the pandemic. 

Without the continued support of our community through donations, sponsors, fundraising, and grants we would not be where we are today. With your ongoing support, we will be able to continue to grow, provide more meals for those in need and have a significant impact on our community.

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