PSEG Foundation awards $500K to address food insecurity

In recognition of National Hunger Action Month, the PSEG Foundation announced the first cohort of 2026 grant awardees under its Neighborhood Partners Program (NPP), an initiative that intends to distribute more than $1 million in grants to nonprofit partners and community organizations in New Jersey and on Long Island this year.

Eighty nonprofits working to combat food insecurity throughout New Jersey and Long Island will receive a combined $500,000 in funding. The remaining grants will be distributed to more cohorts over the next few months.

Awardees include Meals on Wheels, which provided homebound senior citizens with more than 143,000 meals throughout Mercer County in the past year; St. Joseph’s Social Service Center, which provides food, clothing and medications to residents of Elizabeth; and Newark’s Covenant House, which supplies food, water, hygiene kits and immediate and long-term support to youth experiencing homelessness.

“Many New Jersey and Long Island residents continue to struggle to afford basic necessities,” said Calvin Ledford Jr., president of the PSEG Foundation and director of corporate social responsibility at PSEG. “The PSEG Foundation’s goal is to help position our nonprofit partners to meet growing demand. Our community partners are on the front lines every day, helping meet the needs of families, senior citizens and individuals.”

The Neighborhood Partners Program is part of the PSEG Foundation’s ongoing work to care for the communities served by PSE&G and PSEG Long Island. Since the program began in 2014, more than $9.8 million in funding has been given to over 825 organizations across New Jersey and Long Island, with $8.9 million invested in New Jersey alone.

PSEG employees complement that financial support through volunteer service. In 2025, nearly 700 employees volunteered to support more than 50 food drives, soup kitchens and food pantry initiatives, including partnerships with major food banks across the state.

So far this year, 350 employees have contributed over 1,500 volunteer hours at 14 organizations working to address food insecurity and support residents in need.