Hundreds of struggling families lined up in cars at Branch Brook Park in Newark, N.J., one recent afternoon to pick up boxes of free food.
Essex County, which hosted the food distribution event, had about 1,000 boxes of food to give out. They ran out in under two hours, said Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., the county executive of Essex, where more than 1,800 residents have died from Covid-19, the most of any county in New Jersey.
The county has been holding these food distribution events on a weekly basis since April, when the shock waves from the economic shutdown stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic first hit.
“You think it would be getting better, right?” Mr. DiVincenzo said. “It’s not.”
More than 1.4 million people in New Jersey have filed unemployment claims during the economic crisis that has now stretched into its seventh month, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. About 1.2 million people in the state can’t afford regular access to food, a 33% increase prior to the pandemic, according to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the state’s largest anti-hunger organization.
Demand for food banks and soup kitchens throughout the state has surged, and there is no indication that need will subside soon, said Carlos Rodriguez, chief executive of the Community FoodBank. The waves of job losses are also ushering people into poverty who haven’t faced similar challenges before, he said.
“You just see faces of shock—shock on the face of a mother, of a family, that they are in line for food,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “In many cases, this is the very first time they’ve had to do something like this.”
Community FoodBank of New Jersey distributed 66 million meals through the end of June, up from an expected 51 million meals, Mr. Rodriguez said. He forecasts his organization will distribute an additional 80 million meals by the end of June 2021.
The economic crisis has also had a disproportionate effect on communities of color and the working poor, who have fewer resources to weather the downturn, Mr. Rodriguez said.
The unemployment rate for Black, Hispanic and Asian workers in New Jersey was well above 15% for the second quarter of 2020, while the rate for white workers was 13%, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
New Jersey has seen 1.4 million people file for unemployment since the pandemic began. In July, canned goods were packed in Paterson.
Photo: Erica Seryhm Lee for The Wall Street Journal
The economic crisis is shining a spotlight on existing inequities, said Vineeta Kapahi, a policy analyst with New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning think tank.
All regions of New Jersey have felt the devastation from the economic crisis, but in Essex County—home to urban centers like Newark and East Orange and suburban towns like Maplewood and Montclair—the challenges have been especially acute. More than 128,000 Essex County residents have filed for unemployment since mid-March, second only to Bergen County, which had about 140,000 claims.
MEND NJ, a nonprofit that helps lead a network of food pantries in Essex County, saw demand for food rise between 10% and 40% at the start of the pandemic, said Robin Peacock, executive director of the group. The demand has begun to level off, but food pantries are preparing for another influx in the fall, she said.
“I think everyone is cautiously waiting for the next round, for more people to start coming out again,” Ms. Peacock said.
Mr. Rodriguez of the Community FoodBank said his organization is preparing for a prolonged economic downturn and is urging federal lawmakers and the Trump administration to provide additional relief to help those in need.
“This food is sorely needed until the economy is back on track,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “In every disaster, that takes years.”
Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8