2 New Jersey food banks destroyed by fire start cleanup, recovery efforts
Cleanup efforts have begun at the Fish Organization building in Piscataway and at the Open Cupboard Food Pantry in Clinton.
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Two separate fires destroyed two food banks in one week.
Cleanup efforts have begun at the Fish Organization building in Piscataway that was destroyed in a fire on Wednesday. Crews are covering the roof and emptying food that cannot be saved. They say they hope dozens of frozen turkeys and hams that were donated for the Easter holiday can be salvaged since there was a fire wall between the freezers and where the smoke and flames destroyed the multipurpose building.
MORE: Fire erupts at Piscataway building that serves community
On Monday, Drone 12 was above what remained of a shopping plaza that sits along Route 22 in Clinton, where a Walgreens, a thrift store and another food pantry were all burned in a fire.
The Open Cupboard Food Pantry was destroyed in the fire. A pantry was set up in neighboring Warren County.
“We set up a second location in Warren County on Dec. 22, which is an exact replica of our food pantry in Huntington County. We are able to pivot on a moment's notice, and that’s what we did. So, we have moved all of our Hunterdon County clients starting next Tuesday to our Warren County location,” said Jennifer Tavormina, the executive director of Open Cupboard Food Pantry.
MORE: Fire destroys Clinton Walgreens, food pantry and thrift shop
There is a GoFundMe to help with the recovery efforts at the Fish Organization. Click here for more information.
For more information on how to help The Open Cupboard Food Pantry, click here.
