For 40 years, the Food Bank of South Jersey (FBSJ) has been both of and for South Jersey. As the largest emergency food distributor in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties, FBSJ offers a lifeline to families by showing up – and standing up – alongside its neighbors.
“There’s a quote from John Mott, who was an evangelist in the early 1900s and long-serving leader of the YMCA,” begins Fred Wasiak, FBSJ’s president and CEO. “He said that you can’t get your work done from sitting behind your desk: You have to get out where the people are, let them understand you as you understand them. That’s what drives trust, innovation, strategy and response to community needs.”
That hands-on philosophy has shaped how the food bank shows up for South Jersey—especially as it faces an unprecedented uptick in demand: With widespread challenges like COVID and recent cuts to social safety nets like Medicaid, federal food programming and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, the organization has evolved quickly to meet those growing needs.
In fact, today’s challenges easily eclipse the food insecurity many experienced for the first time in the pandemic’s earliest days: In 2024 alone, through its network of 300 community partners, FBSJ served roughly 185,000 people each month—double what peak lockdown saw earlier this decade. And that number is expected to climb.
“For every one meal that Feeding America food banks put on the table, SNAP provides nine meals,” Wasiak notes. “These cuts across the country will take six billion meals off the table nationwide—the Feeding America network doesn’t even do that many meals in a year of distribution to 200-plus food banks serving every single county.”
He continues: “Plus, for every dollar spent at a local grocery store with the SNAP benefit, that’s $1.82 back into the local economy—so there’s a ripple effect for not only the family that needs food, it’s going to hurt local grocery businesses, too. … The resources are going away and the lines are just going to get longer.”
As food banks exist to be of service in hard times, Wasiak emphatically notes that “no one should ever feel ashamed” to accept help from an outreached hand. He urges those in need to visit FoodBankSJ.org and plug their zip code into the food finder to be connected with “our supportive pantry agencies;” for those in a position to offer assistance, volunteers are always appreciated while monetary donations “help us procure healthy, nutritious food that our neighbor deserves,” and every $1 yields two meals.
Part of “responsively rather than reactively” meeting people where they are is thoughtfully developing new programs and expanding existing ones. Right across the street from FBSJ’s Pennsauken headquarters, the forthcoming Center for Health, Wellness, and Nutrition promises to be a warmly inviting space that will both deepen community connections and allow for greater storage and distribution space to meet today’s rising needs.
“I am so excited for this,” Wasiak says. “The whole purpose is to continue to build community, but what’s most important is for people to understand that they can be self-sufficient in nutrition, in preparing nutritious meals, how to maximize all the fruits, vegetables and foods you do have so there’s less food waste and more on the table. … This is really the next step. We’re going to continue to go out to our pantries, but this allows individuals to come to us for training—for example, we’ll have a greenhouse that our chefs will use for ingredients, but it’s also for learning how to grow your own garden.”
Wasiak adds that the center tips its hat to a significant FBSJ architect: “Food banks really started with a vision and a passion to help people, and 40 years ago, Ellen Ward—the first executive director of the Food Bank of South Jersey—had a vision. … We’ve since built this wonderful relationship with her, and we’ve named the new kitchen in the center The Ellen Ward Teaching Kitchen.”
That state-of-the-art teaching kitchen recognizes how education is a cornerstone of building up an empowered community, and its 10 stations will help residents learn how to whip up healthy, home-cooked meals. Another work in progress, the SNAP education coalition, will also lift up others with the knowledge and resources that make it easier for households to secure access to much-needed benefits.
This is, however, a bittersweet chapter for Wasiak, who will retire at the end of this year. As the search is underway for the next FBSJ president and CEO, he readily identifies the hallmark of compassionate, impactful leadership: mindfulness.
“It’s so important to be present in the presence of another,” he affirms. “When you’re truly present, you hear more than what they’re verbally saying.”
And no matter who picks up the mantle next, Wasiak is confident that FBSJ’s future is in good hands, thanks to an internal culture that always answers the call to be good neighbors.
“I am surrounded by incredible people and a supportive board: One reason we’re serving so many people is the community realized that we respond to their needs with sensitivity, compassion and empathy,” he says. “It’s truly noble work we do, and we’re personally dedicated to making sure that we meet every individual’s needs.”
Food Bank of South Jersey
Serving Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties
(856) 662-4884
FoodBankSJ.org
