ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. â€“
ONE Project, a faith and community coalition that addresses social needs through education and volunteerism, hosted the 2018 NJ Hunger Project at Robbinsville High School, August 4. The ONE Project, working with Feeding Children Everywhere, brought together over 1,600 community volunteers and packaged 131,328 meals for hungry kids in New Jersey.

Volunteers packed ingredients for a lentil casserole meal created by nutritionists at Feeding Children Everywhere. This meal, which consists of red lentils, rice, dehydrated vegetables, and pink Himalayan salt, is nutritious, non-perishable, and costs only 27 cents per meal. The ONE Project team raised the money through the help of over 50 local businesses and community organizations, and donations from over 170 people.

The meals were donated to Mercer Street Friends Food Bank and other partners and will be distributed throughout New Jersey. These meals will specifically target summer feeding sites and the â€œSend Hunger Packingâ€ program, which is part of Feeding Americaâ€™s National BackPack Program. Both of these programs are designed to target low-income children in Mercer County who struggle to afford food when they are out of school.

These meals are particularly impactful considering that Feeding Americaâ€™s research project, Map the Meal Gap, shows that almost 270,000 children in New Jersey or 1 in every 7 children are food insecure. ONE Project Board Member, Dave Doran said, â€˜1,600 volunteers chose action over complacency, a voice instead of silence, and love over indifference. They are proof that as a community we are better together.â€™

Led by Aanya Gupta and Ashley Stamboulian, the ONE Projectâ€™s Youth Council brought in over 500 student volunteers in an effort to express the importance of community service to students. Not only did they bring in a diverse group of volunteers, but they also ran the event logistics, organized the food packing, and brought a contagious energy to the day.

The ONE Project was founded by Amman Seehra of Robbinsville, New Jersey, in 2014 to work as ONE to make a difference. Faith and community members will work together to efficiently and effectively address social needs through education and volunteerism.

He is a Senior Program Specialist with the US Department of Agriculture.
Seehra is also works as an Assistant Professor at Mercer County Community College
since 2005. He developed and taught subjects such as â€˜Law & Societyâ€™ and â€˜American Political System.â€™

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ONE Project Public Service Announcement (PSA):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdeydZ7GOrg

New Jersey faith organizations and local businesses come together to feed the hungry children