The Community Food Bank of New Jersey has teamed with the city of Newark to help distribute clean drinking water to the city’s residents.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said over the weekend that residents who have lead-contaminated drinking water may be drinking bottled water for at least another month while tests continue.

Bottled water is now coming in by the pallet through donations and it will be stored at the food bank in Hillside.

“It’s a great collaboration and it makes sense,” says Julienne Cherry, director of agency relations. “Once we receive the water here from donors, we'll wait for a call from the city to drop it off at the four approved drop locations.”

Newark residents living in certain areas of the city must drink the bottled water after recent tests showed that filters weren’t removing enough lead from the tap water in their homes. The issue is impacting hundreds of people.

“We are equipped to do this. This is what we do every single day - we fight hunger and poverty 365 days a year,” Cherry says. “So, naturally when our neighbors in need need clean drinking water, this is what we do."

The Community Food Bank will accept water donations from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. More information about how to help can be found on the United Way website.