Jackson Council President Jennifer Kuhn says she had been contacted by multiple concerned and upset residents regarding the township’s notification that the food pantry will have to vacate the Jackson Senior Center by June 1st.

Kuhn said she and the council were not told about this prior, so she immediately reached out to the mayor for an answer.

Councilwoman Kuhn and other council members are disappointed by this news and are asking the community to help the Jackson Women of Today find a new home for this extremely valuable community service.

So far a few organizations, including the Jackson School Board have stepped up.

“I wish the mayor gave us all more notice,” Kuhn said. “This caught us all by surprise. This is an extremely important service for our community and the council had no prior notice until residents started asking us why.”

Below is a message Kuhn received from the mayor regarding the closure:

“Thank you for reaching out. The Jackson Food Pantry will, unfortunately have to temporarily suspend operations on or about the timing of the June primary, as their location is in the exact same spot as the Voting Districts in that area. In speaking with the Jackson Women of Today they told me they will distribute as long as they can and give gift cards for perishables that would normally be provided. But more issues have surfaced, making even some of the volunteers look to relocate.

We have received numerous and alarming complaints from the Senior Center itself and the Commission for the Disabled, too, with regards to the following. Inmates are stocking shelves using bathrooms unattended and walking about during Senior and Disabled Commission times.

Food left unattended outside blocking doorways. Food left out without proper refrigeration, which had to be discarded, and the space allotted temporarily for Food Pantry activity has sprawled into other spaces that were never designated to them. All this being said, we are in search of a place where we can re-establish a safe, suitable, and long-lasting location for the Jackson Food Pantry.

As a point of information, the DPW, where the Food Pantry was previously located, has been exterminated and hopefully the eradication of all vermin has been successful. The area now has to undergo demolition and be rebuilt.

This area was originally taken away from our DPW staff and given to the Food Pantry Volunteers when the fire struck the old library.

Since that time, the Food Pantry in DPW space has continually encroached into other small areas that were never intended to house such an operation. Given the Administration and Council’s commitment to grow DPW, considering placing the Food Pantry back in that location is not practical or logical anymore.

This is why we need to reach out all across Jackson to find another location capable of handling the growing needs of the Food Pantry. I am hoping that you and the Council can assist with this so we can be successful and limit the amount of downtime.

We are also in the process of contacting Houses of worship throughout Jackson. We will ask everyone, including businesses and residents, if they have or know of a place where we can re-establish a safe, suitable, and long-lasting location for the Jackson Food Pantry.

The DPW, where the Food Pantry was previously located, has been exterminated and hopefully the eradication of all vermin has been successful. The area now has to undergo demolition and rebuild. When the fire struck the old library, this area was originally taken away from our DPW staff and given to the Food Pantry Volunteers. Since that time, the Food Pantry in DPW space continually encroached into other small areas that were never intended to house such an operation. Given Administration and Council’s commitment to grow DPW, considering to place the Food Pantry back in that location is not practical or logical anymore.”