PISCATAWAY, NJ — A New Jersey nonprofit that burned down last week is back to feeding its community.
The Fish, Inc. food bank in Piscataway caught fire on Wednesdaybut the volunteers didn’t wait to get up and run.
Like most moms, Shantelle Cherry tries to find food her kids will love. He does groceries at Fish, Inc. for 17 years.
“I’m a single mom of six kids. This pantry has always made the difference between me being able to put a balanced meal on the table and me saying, ‘Okay, we have to limit it because the funds are not there,’ ” Cherry said.
Assisted by Fish, Inc. to keep needy residents fed and clothed. A fire last week destroyed the group’s building.
But not its mission.
“First, it’s surprising because you don’t expect something like that, and then, yeah, you stop and say, ‘What am I going to do?'” said Lisa Couch, the nonprofit’s president.
Couch and his team of volunteers decided to still hold their usual Monday food drive. This time, in the church parking lot next door, with food donated by local grocery stores.
“I felt that we had to serve our people fully, and we were determined to do so,” Couch said.
One of the biggest challenges today is storing all the food, without a building and without a refrigerator.
“Normally, whatever’s left is obviously stored and frozen, but we don’t have that capacity right now. So we’re moving it to other agencies that can use it, and after Wednesday, we’ll start over,” Couch said.
