The coronavirus pandemic has cost thousands of New Jerseyans their jobs and has led to many people seeking assistance at state food shelters.

Actress Piper Perabo is using her fame and reach to advocate for those in the state who are struggling to make ends meet. Perabo grew up in Toms River.

“When schools started shutting down because of COVID, I got really nervous about how kids were going to get fed. Food scarcity is a big problem. In New Jersey, 1 in 8 kids struggle with hunger, and for some kids, the meals they get at school are the only meals they get,” Perabo says. “It was important for me to start talking about the community food banks in New Jersey and making sure people know where they can get access to food.”

Perabo is working with the group Feeding America. Feeding America has three food banks in New Jersey. New Jersey also has Community Food Bank in Hillside, which has partnered with organizations in Ewing and Phillipsburg, Fulfill in Neptune and the Food Bank of South Jersey in Pennsauken.

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Perabo says that now part of the struggle is to convince others who may also be out of work themselves to help contribute. She says that for organizations like Community Food Bank, people can volunteer or donate money.

“Those of us who have enough food – every night when we eat as a family, we’re very grateful for the food that we have – and I think you need to think of your neighbors, even if your neighbors don’t need to go to a food bank. If you have elderly neighbors, you can check on them, make a grocery run for them and leave it on their porch. I think the way we get through this crisis is we all lean on each other,” Perabo says.

Perabo says that she is inspired by many of the groups and volunteers across New Jersey that are already doing their parts to assist the residents of the Garden State.