Mendham Twp. Outlasts Borough, Chester in Food Drive Battle

In the end, standings don’t matter, and everyone in need in the community wins.

That’s the ultimate result of the Morris County Municipal Action to Curb Hunger (M.C.M.A.T.C.H.), which ran for the entire month of September.

The purpose of the campaign was for municipalities in the county to battle in a friendly competition with one another and see who can bring in the most monetary and food donations over the 30-day period.

Mendham Township, Mendham Borough and Chester Borough were all in Division 1, based on population size. Per the standings, Mendham Township came in third, behind Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township.

Mendham Township hauled in 919 pounds of goods to donate to the Interfaith Food Pantry.

The township announced last week it had won the competition, as the standings showed those results. However, significant local collections reported after the close of the online donation period changed the final results.

Mendham Borough and Chester Borough were fourth and fifth in the standings, respectively. Mendham, which won the competition in M.C.M.A.T.C.H.’s inaugural year in 2012, brought in 599 pounds of goods.

Chester was able to raise 220 pounds of goods. Both boroughs were supporting the Chester Food Pantry in the competition.

The division, as a whole, raised 3,930 pounds of goods for various food pantries in the area.