Free Food, Clothing Distribution At West Side Park In Newark – Newark, NJ Patch

NEWARK, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the United Community Corporation. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the United Community Corporation, Unstoppable Girls Foundation, and Walmart will team up to serve the city of Newark and host a free food and clothing distribution event.

The event will be held at West Side Park (600 S17th Street, Newark, NJ 07103) and will take place from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Free food packages will be available for pickup courtesy of United Community Corporation, while fall clothing for men, women and children will be provided by Unstoppable Girls Foundation and Walmart The Unstoppables Clothing Distribution.

“The United Community Corporation and Unstoppable Girls collaboration event will meet the community’s needs for not only food and clothing but resources for youth programming, energy bill assistance and our emergency shelter,” United Community Corporation Grant Compliance Manager Alena Minatee said. “The collaboration that Unstoppable Girls has developed with Walmart has been able to meet a variety of needs. One of those is clothing assisting families who may have loss income streams during the pandemic or the fear of going to the store with clusters of people.”

The coronavirus pandemic hit an already vulnerable Essex County hard. Prior to the pandemic, 33.81-percent or 261,755 individuals in Essex County were living in households with income below 200-percent of the Federal Poverty Level. In April, the unemployment rate in Essex County jumped from 4.6-percent to 16.8-percent and hasn’t dropped below 16.6-percent since.
United Community Corporation, Unstoppable Girls Foundation, and Walmart recognized the increase of people in-need and are leaping into action.

“The greatest benefit of this is being able to provide families and children impacted by the pandemic with brand new clothing and resources,” Unstoppable Girls Foundation founder Caryl Lucas said. “Our goal is to increase greater access to those in need and opportunities for girls to give back through volunteerism and social responsibility. The Walmart partnership is aimed at supporting community-based organizations like United Community Corporation.”

United Community Corporation, which currently serves the Greater Essex County area, sees this partnership as an opportunity to branch out and serve even more vulnerable communities.

“UCC has been providing clothing and food to families in need since 1964,” Minatee said. “However this partnership allows families from not only Essex County, but other counties to be able to benefit from our services and programs. UCC’s mission is not only serving Essex County, but people as a whole. This extension creates a space where we are truly fulfilling that mission.”

United Community Corporation has been a staple in Essex County for over 50 years and has stepped up to serve the community during the pandemic.

It has hosted three massive food distributions since July in collaboration with Roosevelt Community 4U and Bessie Green Community Inc. to serve over 60-thousand individuals. Last month it held a backpack, school supplies and food distribution event in partnership with multiple non-profit organizations throughout Newark.

UCC operates the Fulton Street emergency shelter, which has run 24-hours a day during the pandemic, and the Champion Street food pantry, which serves meals daily from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and provides many local churches and partners with food. The community action agency is multidimensional and looks to help people in all walks of life throughout our community with housing, rental and energy assistance programs, homelessness prevention and foreclosure prevention programs, senior services and youth development programs.

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