Liquid Church and Feed the Children team up to feed nearly 9K N.J. families – NJ.com

After a two-week decline, unemployment claims have spiked again with more than 25,000 new claims filed last week to push New Jersey’s total claims to 1.5 million since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

To try to combat that growing unemployment rate, groups have stepped up across the state to provide charitable contributions to help those in need. The latest comes from Liquid Church, a faith-based organization, and Feed the Children to provide food and essentials for struggling families.

“We served people of all walks of life during these events,” Kristin Hosen, director of Outreach for Liquid Church, said. “The virus doesn’t discriminate and affects everyone equally. We tried to make this the most honoring, dignified process to help families in our community during this challenging time.”

The two organizations partnered to produce 21 semi-truck loads of food and essentials to families across Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Somerset and Union counties. Those trucks provided nearly 235,000 pounds of food and essentials for 8,400 families.

Each family received a 25-pound box of shelf-stable food and a 15-pound box of daily essentials, which included lotion, shampoo and feminine hygiene products.

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Evan Slavit may be reached at eslavit@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.