SALT Foundation to mark opening of Jersey City office

The nonprofit SALT Foundation will be hosting a grand opening event Sunday to welcome the public to its new facility in Jersey City.

The organization had been based in East Brunswick, but the new office at 637 Newark Ave. marks the first time SALT will have a location that is open to the public. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Jersey City offers an ideal location for SALT Foundation to serve the public by giving away free healthy food, hosting community meetings, and providing a meeting place for those who need it,” said Claudia Wheeler, SALT Foundation founder and Jersey City native.

“I believe SALT can thrive within this dynamic, diverse neighborhood and such a singular and promising city as a whole. We will continue to serve communities across northern and central New Jersey, but we are proud to now have our home base within Jersey City.”

The SALT Foundation aims to provide food and sustenance for those not reached by food banks and pantries, by offering free bags of healthy fruits, vegetables, grains and other perishable food and supplies that are generously donated to SALT Foundation by Trader Joe’s in Hoboken, Trader Joe’s in Brick, Wegman’s in Princeton, and Walmart in Edison, Wheeler said.

The group has organized numerous drive-through, drop-off and hand-out food sharing events by partnering with food pantries, community centers, homeless and women’s shelters, churches, universities, schools, restaurants, community fridges, hospitals, and festivals in Jersey City, Union City, Teaneck, Hoboken, Somerset, New Brunswick, Trenton, East Brunswick, Edison and Howell.

Wheeler, a United States Navy veteran and a public schoolteacher, said she intends to continue holding events in partnership with other groups, to be complemented by regular giveaways at the Jersey City office.

SALT Foundation gathers healthy and quality food that would otherwise be thrown away from these generous grocery stores, and then distributes it to partners and directly to the public at special events. Over the past decade, Wheeler has collected and delivered over 156,000 pounds of fruits, vegetables, grains, and other food products to dozens of organizations and thousands of families, driving over 114,500 miles in the process.

To learn more about SALT Foundation, please visit www.TheSALTFoundationInc.org.