June 11, 2020
Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle, donated 10,000 rolls of toilet paper to United Way of Greater Mercer County (UWGMC). This is part of Cottonelle’s generous commitment to make sure toilet paper is accessible to the community.
United Way is also making sure that basic needs are being met in the community. Therefore, the organization reached out to Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Mercer County (JFCS) to assist with the distribution of toilet paper. JFCS has been able to provide toilet paper to patrons of its brick-and-mortar, Yvette Sarah Clayman Kosher Food Pantry, and through the JFCS Mobile Food Pantry.
The partnership ensures that individuals and families in East Windsor, Hightstown, West Windsor, Robbinsville, Trenton, Lawrenceville, and the broader Mercer region have access to toilet paper.
“Despite the challenges that social service agencies have faced in light of the pandemic, the support and partnership of agencies here in Mercer County has provided a network of resources to those most severely impacted by COVID-19,” said Michelle Napell, JFCS Executive Director. “United Way has been a longtime partner of JFCS and we were grateful that they thought of us to help distribute the toilet paper into the community.”
The Mobile Food Pantry officially hit the road in January 2020, with a planned roll out of one stop per week during the first three months, then increasing to two stops per week through its first year on the road. The coronavirus expedited that timeline and the Mobile Food Pantry has been making 2 – 3 stops per week since mid-March, with demand growing.
The Yvette Sarah Clayman Kosher Food Pantry has steadily seen almost double the usual demand over the past three months.
Collectively, since March 16, over 3,800 individuals have benefitted from the on-site and mobile pantry efforts of JFCS. The on-site pantry serves any within the greater Mercer County area and the Mobile Food Pantry has made stops in Princeton, Lawrenceville, Trenton, Hightstown, East Windsor, West Windsor, Robbinsville, Hamilton, and Ewing. Mobile pantry stops include schools in the East Windsor Regional School District and West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, low-income senior housing, housing developments for individuals with disabilities, and housing developments for low-income families.
