Carrie and Ken Somberg

We have friends who are involved with the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), and we have been donors to the annual fund for several years. However, our understanding of food insecurity and the immense need in our community really began to change in 2020. Carrie became involved with Women Fighting Hunger, an initiative of CFBNJ, where she has focused on college food pantries, a need previously unknown to us. We also became weekly volunteers at the Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges (IFPO), a CFBNJ community partner. IFPO now serves over 600 clients each week with demand that seems to grow unabated. Carrie works on the “walk-up” line while I work on the “drive-up” line, directly providing food to neighbors in need. We see the depth of gratitude for what pantry provides—a big smile when we have eggs or a sincere thank you for a weekly box of fresh produce. What we pick up at the grocery store without a second thought is truly meaningful to the people we serve. While this response makes us feel good about the work that IFPO and CFBNJ do, it also makes us feel sad and angry to see the lack of such a basic need in a wealthy state.

Recently, we decided that it was time to revisit our philanthropic priorities. Our two sons were both established in their own careers and not dependent on us for financial support, so it was a good time to consider what issues and organizations were most meaningful to us. Our experience at IFPO led us to prioritize food insecurity in our annual giving. There are a great many causes worthy of our support, but basic human needs such as food cannot be ignored.

We also discussed the importance of enhancing the stability and capabilities of the organizations that are most important to us after we are gone. Having included CFBNJ as a cornerstone of the philanthropic portion of our estate is a great feeling—we will be helping to assure that our neighbors are fed. Importantly, we’ve also discussed this with our sons, and they are very supportive of the gift that will be made from our estate. We hope they will follow our example.