Princeton TruckFest Raises More than $20,000 for Send Hunger Packing Program

Visitors to Princeton TruckFest waited on long lines. The event raised more than $20,000.
Visitors to Princeton TruckFest waited on long lines. The event raised more than $20,000.

The first ever Princeton TruckFest food truck event,  sponsored by the private eating clubs at Princeton University and the Pace Council for Civic Values, raised more than $20,000 for the Send Hunger Packing program.

“The Princeton TruckFest team is grateful for everyone’s support and we are looking forward to the possibility of holding this event again next year,” Princeton University junior Janie Lee said.

The  event, which was held on Prospect Avenue April 25, attracted such a large crowd that people had to wait in line for more than an hour for food in many cases, and vendors ran out of food. Some visitors simply left when they saw how long the lines were.

“We’ve heard lots of feedback about the event and look forward to making this an even better experience for those who attend the next time around, with less wait time and more food trucks and food,” Lee said.

Send Hunger Packing helps school children who do not have enough to eat. The program is run by the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank. Modeled after Feeding America’s backpack program, Send Hunger Packing meets the needs of hungry children by providing them with food to eat over the weekend during the school year. In partnership with local schools, children identified by school officials as being food insecure or at risk for hunger take home a backpack on Friday afternoons that is filled with kid-friendly, easy-to-open and nutritionally sound food provided by Mercer Street Friends. On Monday morning, the children return the empty backpack to school. The program serves about 250 children who attend the Princeton Public Schools.  Send hunger Packing programs have been implemented in more than a dozen public schools in Mercer County and the program serves more than 600 children.

3 Comments

  1. Really thrilled the organization raised so much $$, but yes the event was rather horrific in terms of food availability and wait time! People think of food trucks as “fast, efficient, unique”, but my goodness the hot dog stand took WAAAAAAAY too long to make their hot dogs – SUPER SLOW MOTION – I hope they do improve the event TREMENDOUSLY for next year because it’s a GREAT location, GREAT CAUSE and I’m sure if the Food Trucks had been properly managed/stocked – it would’ve been amazing!

    1. The organizers arranged for 100% of the profits to go to charity. This sounds like a great idea, but it meant that the food truck vendors were basically working for free. The effort they made was entirely consistent with the amount they were earning. Now you might ask a question of the organizers- about whether 11 food trucks was appropriate for 6,000 people? It might have been, if the vendors had any incentive to work quickly, but that was not the case. The whiz-kids who organized this will probably soon be working in Wall Street. What could go wrong?

      1. That probably sounds very harsh but I felt very sorry for all the people I saw stuck in the incredibly long lines. Lots of people with hungry kids just wanting some dinner and very disappointed.

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