Northeast Earth Coalition

COMMUNITY FOOD NETWORK: The Community Food Network is a grassroots crowdsourced solution to immediate local food need. Whether it's a need for food or a need to give, mini pantries help feed neighbors, nourishing neighborhoods and building communities. ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The program distributed over 380,000 pounds of dry and canned food in five towns. More than 250 volunteers are running this program 24/7. We impacted the lives of over 5,000 families facing food insecurity and providing them basic food support.

ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES: This program presents free workshops and training to educate the public about environmental issues, promote the protection of the environment, and create community level environmental education projects, and organize our annual conference "Acting Locally for a More Sustainable World." ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Expansion of the community Composting Program from 6 to 10 composting stations across the town of Montclair. The program educates the community about composting and gives community members a chance to participate as volunteers to run the project. Composting stations have been installed in community gardens, houses of worship, schools, and gardening organizations. All the composting together are processing over 50 tons of waste that are not going to the incinerator or landfill. Crane Park in Montclair, NJ has historical and cultural significance, which includes the former home site of Israel Crane, the original founder of Cranetown in the late 1700s, and the YWCA for African American women in the early 1900s. Brookdale Park Native Plant Garden. This is another educational environmental project that continues thriving after 6 years of being created. The garden has been expanded. In August of 2017, the Northeast Earth Coalition and Friends of Crane Park created a demonstration garden to enhance the public space as well as to educate the community about the importance of growing native plants and vegetables as well as the importance of pollinators. This year, we reached over 450,000 online visitors. The Pollinator pathways: This project establishes pollinator-friendly habitats and food sources for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinating insects and wildlife in New Jersey.