The Food Brigade

Communication from the City of Clifton:

"The City of Clifton has expanded its cooling center locations to help residents stay safe.

Clifton Recreation Center
1232 Main Ave., Clifton

Friday, July 3 & Saturday, July 4
8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

The Main Memorial Library and Allwood Branch Library will also continue serving as cooling centers during their regular posted hours.

Residents are encouraged to stay hydrated, avoid prolonged outdoor activity during the hottest part of the day, check on elderly neighbors and other vulnerable individuals, and never leave children or pets unattended in a parked vehicle."

FRAC Report Finds School Districts Struggle to Feed Children Amid Policy Changes, Rising Costs

The Food Research and Action Center has found that the 2025–2026 school year opened amid significant threats to child nutrition programs, in its recently-issued "Large School District Report: A Snapshot of School Meals Participation and Operations in October 2025" which analyzes survey findings from 96 large school districts across the country.

Eighty-one school districts (84 percent) reported high food costs; 78 school districts (81 percent) reported increased labor costs; and 71 school districts (74 percent) reported concerns regarding how deep cuts to SNAP and Medicaid in H.R. 1 will affect school meal administration and participation. The Passaic School District is one of the areas covered in the report.

While nearly all schools included in the report offered both breakfast and lunch, far too many eligible children are missing out on school breakfast. In October 2025, these districts combined served 47.8 million lunches but only 26.8 million breakfasts.

School districts also reported that infrastructure challenges limited their ability to increase school meal participation and shared their concerns about the ripple effect that dramatic cuts to SNAP in H.R. 1 will have on child nutrition programs. Millions of people are losing SNAP benefits, and when families lose access to SNAP, children also lose direct certification for free school meals, putting them at risk of increased food insecurity.

“The need to expand and fortify school meals programs has never been more urgent. As states assume greater financial responsibility under new SNAP provisions in H.R. 1, prioritizing equitable access to free, nutritious school meals becomes a critical safeguard from hunger for the millions of children whose families are struggling to put food on the table,” said Crystal FitzSimons, president of FRAC.

Food Research & Action Center Passaic County Passaic County Food Policy Council Passaic Public Schools Passaic City Hall

Part of the work of The Food Brigade is supporting students dealing with food insecurity. This includes periodically donating snack packages to Eastside High School in Paterson, for distribution in their Student Character Leadership Development program. Recently, The Food Brigade donated 200 snack packages which included a cereal bar, juice box, applesauce cup, tuna fish, a Chef Boyardee item, raisins, macaroni & cheese, and cranberries. These packages were actually assembled at our organization's Clifton warehouse by another group of students, from the Academy of the Holy Angels in Demarest.

According to the Paterson Board of Educations, roughly 95% of the student population meets the federal low-income thresholds required to receive free daily school breakfasts and lunches. For a substantial portion of high-schoolers, the breakfast, lunch, or free after-school dinners served on campus represent the only consistent nutrition they consume in a 24-hour period.

Please support the work of The Food Brigade in the fight against food insecurity among New Jersey's students: go to www.PantryDonation.com. Thank you.

[The Food Brigade is a proud Partner Agency of The Community FoodBank of New Jersey.]

Passaic County Passaic County Food Policy Council City of Paterson - City Hall Paterson Public Schools