b"final mattersParty On!Rent Party closes in on a decade fighting hungerBY ELLEN DONKERThe South Orange Elks presented Rent Party with a $2,000 check this summer to support the garden.L to R: David Wagner, Tom Nevius, Jerry O'Connell, Allen Pierce, Chris Dickson, Mike Leonard, Yoda Bob Donnelly, Karen Rutberg, Jim Myracle.I fyoureChrisDickson,workdonatesThanksgivingbasketsto therearetwokindsofstudents in need, and works with people in Maplewood andMary Vayas and the Village Tratto-SouthOrange:thosewhoria to provide pizzas for the Satur-knowwhataRentPartyisday school program at Maplewood and those who dont. He seemsMiddle School.dumbfounded by the latter. Af- Clearly Dickson is satisfied with the ter all, hes been running monthly eventsthat the organization has done to for this hyper-local hunger relief organizationfight hunger for the past ten years, and proud for ten years now, advertising them with signs thatthat its still 100 percent volunteer-led. To cele-sprout up on lawns a week before each party. brate, people suggested Dickson plan something fancy, You always have to be telling your story, Dickson says. And hessuch as a fundraising gala. But thats not his style. Instead he did told Rent Partys too many times to count. Partnering with David Wagner inwhat he does every second Friday of the month: He held a show. 2009, the duo set out to host live music events to raise money to address hun- Rent Party continues to evolve as Dickson strives to keep the events relevant. ger in Maplewood and South Orange. They charge $10 admission (it startedCome December, Bone Pool Radio will curate a handful of shows. Part of my at $5), bring in local bands for entertainment and use the proceedsdonatinggoal today, Dickson says, is to make Rent Party just a little younger over the more than $100,000 in the past five yearsto help food pantries at Our Ladynext couple of years. To that end, hes planning a family-friendly, all-day music of Sorrows and Oheb Shalom in South Orange, and St. Josephs in Maplewood.event at The Woodland on Saturday, May 23.To date, theyve hosted 124 shows. Dickson credits the community for Rent Partys success in fighting hunger. But the name? The organization is called Rent Party as a nod to the musicHe says, Its more than just the shows. Its the garden, its our relationship with parties people began holding in Harlem in the '20s, when a hat was passed tothe people in the pantries, its the relationship help people pay their rent. In 2009, many people were facing difficult timeswith the social workers and that kind of thing. after the financial crisis and Dickson sought to help where he could. He calls itAnd it cant happen just anywhere. Theres some-the hunger fighting lane. And thats where hes stayed. thing in the water here. Unfortunately, food insecurity hasnt changed much over the years, so Dick-son continues to run the parties, adding programs that address hunger in differ-ent ways. BackPack Pals, an initiative that provides approximately 100 students with a weekends worth of nutritious food during the school year has startedLeft: Rent Party founder Chris Dickson. Below: Above the Moon. Photos courtesy of George Kopp.its ninth year. The South Orange Elks Rent Party Garden, on the front lawn of the Elks Club, just wrapped up its eighth season growing produce for the food pantries. Dickson says, Im happy to report we broke our record. We raised over 2,100 pounds of fresh produce this summer. It has also become an approved site for students of the Essex County Master Gardeners program to earn volunteer credits, thanks to Karen Rutberg, who has served as Rent Partys director of garden operations for the past five years.And this summer Dickson formed a partnership with Seth Boyden Shares, donating produce to the schools community garden for their free farmers mar-ket in the summer. Rent Party also supplies snacks to the Montrose Preschool, 46/ matters magazine / holiday 2019"