Operation: Peanut Butter, Jelly and Beans to Benefit Food Pantries Statewide

The New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs (NJSFWC) of the General Federation of Women's Clubs have started a outreach project, and aim to fill food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens with a total of one million pounds of food for those in need.

The project will entail partnering with organizations around New Jersey to collect food and monetary donations to benefit their local food bank or soup kitchen.

In a recent email to members, Federation President Patricia Whitehouse said that at the group's March 29 networking breakfast, they learned that the Community FoodBank of New Jersey distributed more than 39 million pounds of groceries in 2011 through more than 1,000 member charities.

Additionally, more than 900,000 residents of New Jersey rely on donations from the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and it's partner groups to supplant their food sources.

"These figures are indeed staggering and need for the project to collect 1 million pounds of food between now and the end of June is clearly warranted," Whitehouse said.

In addition to the efforts of its more than 9,000 members, the NJSFWC seeks assistant from organizations who wish to participate in the project.

Participating organizations will decide how to internally implement it, and will be asked to keep track of the total pounds of food and money received, which should be donated to a local food bank, soup kitchen or to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Donations are to be collected through June 30.

The NJSFWC is a 118-year-old organization, based in New Brunswick, that has close to 10,000 members in clubs throughout the state.

The group was the founding body of Rutgers University's Douglass College, and has a rich history of community service and activism for a number of causes.

Any organizations wishing to participate, or seeking more information should email NJSFWC@NJSFWC.org, or visit www.njsfwc.org.