It's a bird, it's a plane! General Mills' Hunger Fighting assists local food pantries
By Lauren Moore
Editorial Assistant
PERTH AMBOY — He does not fly, scale tall buildings or save cities from a seemingly endless assortment of depraved fictitious villains, but Dan Galligan battles a hardship that has become a reality for many of his neighbors. Following his retirement, Galligan decided to allocate his free time to feeding the hungry.
“I always had a feel for people and being of assistance,” said Galligan in an interview at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry Dec. 26.
Though Galligan humbly claims that heroism is not his forte, his efforts have earned him the title of “Hunger Fighting Hero.”
The 2008 Hunger Fighting Hero contest, sponsored by ShopRite and General Mills, recognizes people who devote time, money and energy to the fight against hunger. Contest winners will appear on a special-edition Cheerios box this spring. Winners are also awarded a monetary donation to their charity and 1,000 General Mills box tops for education.
Geraldine Thomas, Galligan’s daughter, nominated her father in the Hunger Fighting Heroes contest because of his tireless devotion to feeding the hungry.
“The volunteers work so hard and for such a good cause. I felt that maybe it would help out the charity as well,” Thomas said.
Galligan became president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at St. Ambrose Parish, Old Bridge, when it was formed in 1995. At that time, the society began to work on opening a food pantry for their parish.
“Dan really got conference started. He did a very good job in organizing and getting good people in key positions,” said Sister of St. Joseph Mary Corbett, the spiritual moderator of St. Ambrose’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Sister Corbett believes the parish has a strong Society of St. Vincent de Paul due to Galligan’s leadership in the society’s beginning stages.
“He lives the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul,” Sister Corbett said.
Shortly after starting the food pantry at St. Ambrose Parish, Galligan joined with the Diocese of Metuchen to open a St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Perth Amboy. Previously, Catholic Charities operated a food pantry in Perth Amboy.
“Perth Amboy has represented something personal to me since the beginning of my sales career. I’ve always felt very close to it, and when I knew that a need had risen and there was an opportunity to help, I thought that was certainly the thing to do,” Galligan said.
The pantry was situated in several locations before finding its place on Barclay Street.
“Dad worked tirelessly to find a location that worked as a pantry and in an area in close proximity to the pantry’s clients, many of whom walk there,” Thomas said.
Finding the location on Barclay Street has helped Galligan and other volunteers carry out their mission.
“If we didn’t have this now there’s no way in creation we could handle this number of people, or even store things to the extent that we can today,” Galligan said.
Over the years, Galligan has become familiar with the food pantry’s clientele. The St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry, which once accommodated about 100 families and was open twice a week, currently provides for over 300 families, and is open one day a week.
“Looking at the faces of these people, and even getting to know some of these people just make you truly mindful of what their situation is and how you can really make a solid contribution,” Galligan said.
Galligan says that continuity is his most important goal. He plans to remain involved with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. He also expressed that having volunteers from multiple generations is important.
“If you can have the youth involved, that fortifies things,” Galligan said.
Despite the economic crisis, both food pantries are doing well.
“We have been very fortunate in that a lot of parishes have helped assist by taking up their food collections and bringing food over to us,” Galligan said.
In addition to parish donations, the pantries get food from Mac Foods in Middlesex County and the community food bank in Hillside. Galligan also attributes increased supply of food to Wakefern Food Corporation, ShopRite and local politicians who have shown interest in the cause.
“The main thing is for people to be mindful of the fact that the need is ongoing. It’s nice to get responses at certain times, but if it was an ongoing thing it would be very positive,” Galligan said.