ONE MILLION POUNDS

Foodstock NJ, a registered 501c3 non-profit, is proud to announce that the organization reached its lifetime goal of collecting ONE MILLION POUNDS of food donations at its 2022 annual food drive!

Foodstock originated in Freehold, NJ, in 2009 when Maura Swisher needed a Senior project for St. John Vianney High School. The Swishers had a long history of volunteering at a local food pantry and they organized a neighborhood food drive in their backyard to collect 2,000 pounds of food to stock the pantry’s empty shelves.

The initial implementation, called “A Ton of Fun”, had live music and a carnival theme with activities and games of chance. After tripling their goal that first year, the family decided to make it an annual Fall tradition but remove the weight goal from the name.

The name “Foodstock” and “Peace, Love and Food” branding was adopted in homage to the famous 1969 music festival near Woodstock, New York, billed as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music”.

In 2015, the event had grown enough to move from Swisher’s backyard to be held in a public location at the Colts Neck Firehouse.

The following year, the event was moved to its current home, the Freehold Fire Company #1 at 330 Stillwells Corner Road, next to the Freehold Township Municipal Complex.