Meeting Essential Needs with Dignity (MEND) is a hunger relief network serving Essex County, NJ. The organization focuses on alleviating hunger and addressing its root causes by supporting a network of over 20 food pantries. MEND provides its pantries with fresh and healthy food, funds, a network of volunteers, and a collaborative forum for pantry managers to connect and work together on broader hunger- and poverty-related issues. MEND pantries serve over 300,000 people annually, nearly 40% of whom are children.