Mercer Street Friends Center

My name is Saagar Shah and I am a current Junior at West-Windsor Plainsboro High School North. Over the course of this pandemic, I have been lucky enough to be relatively unaffected. This, however, is not the case for many. 430,000 individuals are becoming food insecure due to the pandemic. I am reaching out to request a donation of any size that may be sent to the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank in order to allow Mercer County’s only Food Bank to provide Food to those in need during these troubling times. Any donation is greatly appreciated.

More information about Mercer Street Friends Center: For over 60 years, Mercer Street Friends has helped families and communities make the journey out of poverty in Trenton NJ and in Mercer County. Our programs include Mercer County's only Food Bank, which distributes 3.5 million pounds of food throughout Mercer County each year; a year-round Preschool; Parenting and Adult Education; and Community Schools.

Hi everyone, Ashleigh Johnson and Makenzie Fischer here from the USA Women’s Water Polo Team! Right now, we’re GEAR-ing up for Tokyo 2020 in the pool, and we’re also WHEEL-y excited about a new project we’re currently working on…

We’re doing something that we think is really cool and hope you do too! Enough suspense— we’re currently in the process of designing and constructing a sustainable bike made out of bamboo!

As we build, we will be using this page to raise money for Mercer Street Friends, a cause that’s close to our hearts. Mercer Street Friends is a community-building program in Trenton, New Jersey that offers resources for children, families, and communities to overcome poverty and its lasting effects.  

Our goal is to raise $6,000. This money will be put towards their Community Schools Initiative for their students at Rivera Community Middle Schools. Our USA Women’s Water Polo Team had the opportunity to meet and spend the day with some of these incredible middle schoolers and it made a lasting impact on our team. We set out with the intention to inspire, but rather left feeling inspired by the amount of hope, drive, and potential we saw in these children.

Let’s switch gears—we want to tell you a little bit about who we’re building this bike for. During our visit to Mercer Street Friends, we had the young women that we met write their lofty dreams on a whiteboard.

The board was covered in dreams like,

 “I want to be a veterinarian”,

“I’m going to be a mechanic,

“My dream is to give kids more opportunities”

”My dream is to meet Steph Curry”,

 “I want to be president because I want to give back to people in need…”

“My dream is to change the world and to empower people”

The bike we build will go to one of these girls who have inspired us with their dreams and who hopefully learned something from the stories we shared about chasing our own dreams. 

As we build, we’ll post regular updates about the progress of the bike on our social media pages (@makenziefishy and @ashleighjohnson). Please donate and share this story with your family and friends to help Mercer Street Friends continue to give these children and their families better access to opportunity and the tools they need to realize their dreams!

Well, it’s time to roll…

Send Hunger Packing(SHuP) is a partnership between the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank and the schools in the West Windsor- Plainsboro Regional School District. While we are a thriving community, we overlook the 175+ children in grades K-6 who qualify for free or reduced price meals. For many of these children, the weekends bring the prospect of empty stomachs and hunger. About 340,000 children are at risk in New Jersey, meaning they may not have had breakfast. SHuP WW-P helped 160 children each week this spring and that number will likely increase next school year.

THERE IS HOPE!
The SHuP Program tries to close the gap by providing two easy-to-open, nutritionally balanced morning meals and two healthy lunch/dinners for the weekend. These meals keep children from being hungry allowing them to return to school nourished and ready to learn.

YOU CAN HELP!
Please make a donation! Because of working with Mercer Street Friends, a respected local 501c3 food bank, each weekend pack costs only $6; therefore, $200 can feed a child four meals each weekend during the school year.

Sincerely,
Melissa Hager

Advisory Board Members
Melissa Hager
Curtis Johnson
Daniel A. Luchansky
Daniel C. Luchansky
Sherri Andrews
Tasneem Sultan
Kani Ilangovan
Toni-ann Blake




"The Send Hunger Packing mission is one especially close to my heart. I grew up in poverty where hunger was a regular issue and can personally relate to this struggle. I strongly believe that no child in our community should have to go to bed hungry, and if we work together, we can make a difference. Supporting our students' basic needs can help them achieve their broader goals and lift subsequent generations out of the same plight. It's an investment in our community and our young people. I urge you to give generously for this worthwhile cause. Thank you for your support."
Sherri Andrews, Founding Advisory Board Member