Dear Friends,

It is alarming to see so many of the same words running through the stories we read each day concerning current events and economic trends. More devastating is the knowledge that our neighbors, schoolmates, or an older adult right here in our small Atlantic County community are personally experiencing the fear, isolation, loneliness, and hopelessness amid this worsening economic storm.

Hunger is a more serious problem for our Atlantic County community than many people realize. Requests for food have tripled since last year. The food items available from Jewish Family Service are currently only half the amount needed to meet this demand. As many of you know, JFS holds collections at our local synagogues over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These collections were down nearly 600 bags of food from last year.

No one plans to be poor. Many people live from paycheck to paycheck and are thrust into poverty by tragic events like the death of a wage earner, divorce, or medical emergencies. Singleparent families, elderly people living on fixed incomes, low-wage workers, and disabled members of our community all need our assistance to assure they will not go hungry tonight.

Although Jewish Family Service is located in Margate, our food pantry serves ALL residents of Absecon Island and Atlantic County. Jewish Family Service depends enormously on the contributions we receive from within this community.

While in some cases food pantries, soup kitchens and other feeding operations close after running out of supplies, Jewish Family Service has never turned away a person or family in need. Please know that donations of food may be an individual's only source of nutrition for the day. High protein items such as peanut butter, canned chicken as well as other non perishable items such as pasta, soup, canned vegetables or cereal are distributed daily.

We are working hard on several food pantry campaigns in the community, [and] we hope you will help us restock our shelves. It is crucial that we stock our pantry throughout the year: from B'Nai Mitzvah students adding a "food collection" theme to their possible list of Mitzvah Projects or a "few extras" dropped off at our office: Thank you for fulfilling this important act of Gemilut khesed.

This community has answered the call in the past, and we are convinced you will answer the call now. Food donations can be dropped off during weekday business hours. We will pick up items from any group organizing a food drive. Dollars can help us go even further - no amount is too small.

Please call us at 822-1108 or visit us on the web at www.jfsatlantic.org.

Sincerely, Anna Feldman, President, Jewish Family Service