ROCKAWAY ROTARY CLUB FIGHTS HUNGER
Posted by Rodney Seifert
on Aug 16, 2011
At its August 15, 2011 meeting, the Rotary Club of the Rockaways thanked the sponsors of the Rotary Club’s 5K “Race to Fight Hunger” which was held on July 7th. Proceeds from this year’s race supported Rockaway Rotarians continuing efforts to combat hunger in their communities through donations to the Rockaway Food Closet and the Morris County Interfaith Food Pantry. Rosemary Gilmartin, Executive Director of the Morris County Interfaith Food Pantry, and Linda Kirby, Director of the Rockaway Food Closet, were each presented with $1000 checks from club president Jean McMullan and 5K Race chairperson, Bart Moriarty. The Rockaway Food Closet was given an additional check for $970 from monies collected at the club’s recent food drive, plus 5K race shirt and ongoing cook book sales.
The Rockaway Food Closet provides food weekly to residents of Rockaway
Borough and Rockaway Township who need assistance feeding their families. The closet also distributes additional food baskets
at Thanksgiving and during the December holiday season. The Morris County
Interfaith Food Pantry serves numerous county families, most of whom are senior
citizens and low-income working families, distributing food out of cramped
quarters each week. A new building
currently under construction and scheduled to be opened this fall will provide
significantly more storage space, allowing the MCIFP to receive and process
more corporate donations and more truckloads of food. This will allow the MCIFP to serve more
families and assist local food pantries in Morris County. Clubs from Rotary District 7470 have pledged
$80,000 to this capital campaign.
