Toni’s Kitchen Helps Guests with Voting Information Ahead of 2024 Election

2024 is a big year for elections in New Jersey. In addition to the elections for President and Vice President, New Jersey voters will also vote for U.S. Senator, the U.S. House of Representatives, and for candidates in municipal races. To help guests of Toni's Kitchen get information about voting in the upcoming election, Toni's is partnering with the League of Women Voters (LWV) of the Montclair Area and the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) of Essex County to make information and resources available at Choice Pantry.

During the week of July 17th, volunteers from the LWV and the NCJW were at Choice Pantry to answer questions from guests such as: When is the next Presidential Election? How do I register to vote? Am I eligible to vote? How do I find out my polling location? How do I vote by mail? How do I apply to be a poll worker? Volunteers were available to answer questions in both English and Spanish. In all, 446 guests were engaged by the LWV/NCJW volunteers and provided with basic voting information and of those, 13 had specific questions that they received assistance with. Volunteers will return to Toni's on Wednesday, October 9th, to be available to answer questions and help guests get registered to vote in time for the election on November 5.

Nancy Xenakis, a Toni's Kitchen staff member who manages Choice Pantry's community-based partnerships, says that guests had many different kinds of questions. "A number of people had moved since the last election and were curious about how they were going to get their voting registration and where they need to go now that they're at a new address," said Nancy.

Jane O'Leary, a volunteer and member of the Advisory Committee at Toni's Kitchen, and Joanmarie Kalter, both volunteers with the LWV, as well as Lyn Rosensweig of NCJW led the volunteers on hand to help guests. 

Providing guests with important information that can promote their independence and improve their lives is a key goal of all of Toni's Kitchen's partnerships. For an event as important as an election, our partnership with the League of Women Voters and the National Council of Jewish Women helps ensure our guests are well informed about the voting process and that their voices are heard on Election Day.