This gallery contains 18 photos.
Tuesday afternoon, Val and I stopped into Sirena in Long Branch for a late lunch. Here’s our review and our photo shoot from this special spot at the Jersey Shore. Sirena Ristorante is located on the ocean in Long Branch, … Continue reading
Photo Courtesy of FoodBank of South Jersey Cooking Matters Program
Wouldn’t it be great if you could save money eating out and help fight hunger at the same time?That’s the concept behind 3SquareDeals.com started by New Jersey entrepreneur Deborah Smith. 3SquareDeals offers great deals at restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores. In return it donates 10% of every deal it sells to food banks in New Jersey. The food banks will use the money to feed the hungry; providing 3 meals for every dollar they receive.
This week, Deb took a few minutes to answer some questions about the program while she was preparing for the launch of the website on Monday, January 30, 2012. Here’s our interview:
BNJ: How did you come to care about the issue of hunger?
Deb: When I started writing about food, I quickly realized that I had an obligation to not only talk about the fun and sexy side of food, but to also talk about the serious side of food, it’s purity and its scarcity. The more I learned about what the food banks do and how many people they help, there was no turning back. We are all about food at JerseyBites, so it’s a perfect marriage.
BNJ: How did you get started with the 3SquareDeals concept?
Deb: I had been mulling over getting into the deals market for some time, but I knew it would need to be very different to catch the attention of the already overloaded consumers out there. When the idea of working with the FoodBanks came to me, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I reached out to my contacts at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and they loved the idea. The rest is history, and 6 months of planning.
BNJ: Deb, I know you are busy running your JerseyBites.com business. How did you find time to work on this?
Deb: I made time. Some things have suffered. My house hasn’t been cleaned in a very long time and my kids are eating a lot of pre-cooked meals (which they don’t seem to mind). I work through most weekends and into the night, but my story is the typical story of any entrepreneur. If you are excited about what you’re doing, it’s just what you do. I have also been very fortunate to find some people to help, and they’ve been amazing.
BNJ: What are your goals for the project?
Deb: Our immediate goals are expand to all of New Jersey in 2012. If it is successful we’ll take the concept to other states. There are hungry people everywhere.
FoodBank of New Jersey Meals Program
BNJ: What’s your connection to the FoodBank of New Jersey?
Deb: Over the years we’ve helped them publicize a number of campaigns. In 2008 we worked with them on their “This Bank Can’t Fail” campaign. We had over 120 bloggers participate and we raised about $7000.
BNJ: How does the Food Bank function?
Deb: You’d be amazed at the types of programs these FoodBanks offer.
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey and the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties both have culinary schools.
The food banks serve as distribution centers for emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior feeding programs and more.
The “Backpack Program” identifies children who need food, and gives them 6 meals to take home for the weekend.
The FoodBank of South Jersey Hope Mobile is a mobile food pantry that holds 45,000 lbs of food and feeds over 21,000 people in four counties. These are the types of programs that we will be helping to fund.
To find out more about the program see the 3SquareDeals website and be sure and stop by Deb’s website JerseyBites.com for some great restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores in New Jersey.
=======
The new BestofNJ.com New Jersey Wedding Directory is growing, sending more and more potential customers to our listed and featured businesses day after day. Yesterday I found some stats that I wanted to share with you about how well the site is working. In the past 45 days the site has driven over 1200 customers to 10 wedding businesses. Most of the referrals originated from our Best Jersey Wedding Venues Feature while others originated from our Small Jersey Wedding Venues Listings.
Here are the top 10 New Jersey Wedding Directory referrals in the past 45 days:
Are you missing out? What are you waiting for? Join us!
Next Wednesday, Jan. 25th — Project Homeless Connect and the annual Point in Time Count of people who are homeless in Middlesex County.
As part of the day, we will be distributing coats, blankets, hygiene items, hats, scarves, gloves, socks and the like. In years past we have made contact with hundreds of homeless people across the county on this one day alone.
WE ARE IN NEED OF DONATIONS of winter coats (especially for men), blankets, toothpaste, socks and hats and gloves are needed.
Please put out a call to your congregants and constituents in the next few days requesting they bring any donations to Elijah’s Promise at 18 Neilson St., New Brunswick.
All items that come in will be shared among the three Project Homeless Connect sites, at Elijah’s Promise, Salvation Army in Perth Amboy and the Woodbridge Housing Authority.
Learn more for information on the activities of the day, access to flyers, surveys, volunteer opps etc.,
BNJ Logo
A new Food Network series is looking for Food Entrepreneurs, specifically, people who have left their previous career to start a new restaurant (or similar business).
Must have little-to-no prior professional culinary experience
Must be planning to open a brick-and-mortar space where there will be walk-in customers (restaurant, bakery, sandwich shop, etc.)
Must be aiming to open between now and autumn 2012
Those chosen will receive culinary & business coaching from Bobby Flay (a chef, restaurateur, and fixture on the Food Network) as well as invaluable national publicity.
Those interested that fit the guidelines, please email the following to foodtvshow@gmail.com: Outline your timeline, budget, menu, team, and especially what’s at stake for you in this endeavor (why you are doing it and what risks, financial as well as personal, you are taking). The Food Network is highly interested in the “human interest” angle of your story.
There is also a Twitter account and a Facebook page for more information. The Food Network will be accepting stories through February and is casting nationally.
Please also email us at the New Jersey Small Business Development Center at TCNJ to director@sbdcnj.com, and let us know you are submitting your entry.
NJ Small Business Development Center at The College of New Jersey
Proudly Serving the Mercer & Middlesex Small Business Community
The NJSBDC network (www.njsbdc.com) is the premier provider of comprehensive services and programs for small business in New Jersey. The organization, which consists of 11 centers statewide, helps businesses expand their operations, manage their growth or start ventures. The New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) network is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Jersey, and The College of New Jersey. SBA’s funding is not an endorsement of any products, opinions, or services. All SBA-funded programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested at least two weeks in advance by contacting 609-771-2947.
Swan on Lake Lilly in Cape May
(12/P3) TRENTON — The Department of Environmental Protection has received a $1 million federal grant that will be used to protect ecologically sensitive wetlands parcels in Cape May County that provide habitat to migratory birds.
The DEP’s Green Acres Program will use the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program grant to assist in the acquisition of five parcels owned by two separate entities totaling 140 acres in Middle Township.
The parcels will be added to the 17,000-acre Cape May Wetlands Wildlife Management Area, which provides critical habitat for numerous species of birds.
“The Christie Administration is committed to preservation of open space to ensure an improved quality of life for our residents,” Commissioner Bob Martin said. “This grant will enable the DEP to protect ecologically sensitive coastal wetlands both for recreation and wildlife habitat.”
“The DEP and the Division of Fish and Wildlife are extremely proud of our Wildlife Management Areas, which provide opportunities for hiking, fishing, hunting, bird watching, wildlife viewing, photography and many other outdoor pursuits,” said Amy Cradic, Assistant Commissioner for Natural and Historic Resources. “This grant will help us expand one of the larger but lesser known Wildlife Management Areas in the state.”
The Cape May Wetlands Wildlife Management Area, which consists of various parcels generally located between the Garden State Parkway and the barrier islands, provides habitat for one of the most significant concentrations of migratory birds in the world.
The lower Cape May peninsula is an important stopover for a variety of shorebirds, including the red knot, more than 130 neo-tropical passerines, and 16 species of raptors. It also provides significant habitat for nesting water birds, water fowl, and rare plants and animals.
The Green Acres Program is currently negotiating the acquisitions with the owners of the properties. When acquired, the Division of Fish and Wildlife will manage the properties.
The federal grant program provides money for the acquisition, restoration or enhancement of coastal wetlands and adjacent uplands to provide long-term conservation benefits to fish, wildlife and their habitat. Other states receiving funds include Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
To read the U.S. Department of Interior news release, visit: http://us.vocuspr.com/
For more information on New Jersey’s Wildlife Management Areas, visit: http://www.njfishandwildlife.
For more information on the Green Acres Program, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/
#####
Click to See our Jersey Shore Video: Summer 2011 on LBI @ the southern tip of the island looking toward Atlantic City. The The Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge’s Holgate Unit is located here.To warm you up: LBI Summer 2011. We shot this 17 second video this past summer and we thought you might enjoy it today since most of us in the state woke up to temperatures in the single digits this morning. You can watch the full LBI Summer 2011 video on TwitPic. I love this spot on the southern tip of Long Beach Island near the Holgate Unit of the Forsythe Wildlife Refuge. Evidently, the surfers like it here too. It’s a great spot to watch the summer sun go down too.
Fireworks in New Jersey for New Year's Eve: Photo by BestofNJ.com & John Stringfellow
These updates are part of our Big Makeover that’s progressing along nicely. Let us know what you think. We would love to have your feedback.
Best New Jersey Weddings Directory @ http://bestofnj.com/weddings
We’re continuing our gigantic site reorganization project and today we moved one of our most popular features, the Best Bergen County Weddings Feature to its new home on our brand new New Jersey Weddings Directory Site.
Let us know what you think of the new layout and the changes.
