Food Bank Contributions Can Be Made on State Tax Forms

New Jersey taxpayers are being offered a new opportunity to donate to local food banks by simply checking a box on their state income tax return forms.

Taxpayers filling out their NJ-1040 can choose to donate to a number of charities under line item 63, "other designated contribution." The ninth item in the list is a donation to the Community Food Pantry Fund. 

“With a large increase in the number of people seeking food assistance from our state’s network of food pantries in the last couple of years, we are looking for every possible avenue to ensure that there is enough food for those who need it,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher in a press release.  “Working with the Division of Taxation, this new taxpayer-donated fund has the ability to raise a good deal of money to supplement our state efforts to supply nutritious food to the needy.” 

Money donated will go to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture's State Food Purchase Program, which makes quarterly distributions to the state's six food banks, including the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. An emphasis is placed on purchasing healthy foods for families in need and on buying locally grown produce.

”With these payment options, taxpayers who want to support the vital work of food pantries around the state will now be able to do so in a very convenient way,” New Jersey State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said in a press release.