Jumbo or extra large
This is our preferred location, depending on pricing. We have found that our less than retail cost for eggs at Green Olive gives us the best price. We also buy from Costco when that suits us, although Costo eggs in a tray have to be repackaged into the familiar dozen egg cartons.
An egg automat?
The Egg-0-Mat pictured here was located in Warren Township, near Plainfield. It was stocked with fresh eggs that were available to passers-by or smart shoppers who knew them as a great for their freshness. See more about these machines below and be an Egg-0-Mat sponsor.
Stocking up
One of our volunteers who picks up the eggs from Green Olive market is stocking the refrigerator. The eggs are used for our Weekly Food Orders and for our Plainfield Food Security Project bags of groceries.
Join with others who donate regularly to offset the cost of eggs and help assure that our families have this highly desirable source of protein for their diets.
These thirteen Egg-0-Mats represent donors who commit to a regular monthly donation of $10 or an annual donation of $120 toward the purchase of eggs.
Use the button below to make your donation now!
The first one we are aware of was set up by a farmer in Warren, NJ. Seymour Epstein had the machine built and placed where he had his roadside stand on Mountain Boulevard, across the street from where the municipal building now stands. His family staffed the stand during daytime, but could still sell eggs after-hours through the new Egg-Omat machine. We use this historical photo of his machine to recognize our own Egg-O-Mat donors.
The Egg-O-Mats are no longer around, but we have revived them in our own way. And we don't care which came first, the chicken or the egg, as long as we have fresh eggs for our clients. How many eggs, you say? Well, our average annual number of food orders is 1220, plus our Plainfield Food Security Project food bags. Each order includes a half-dozen or a dozen eggs. You do the math and you come up with over 1600 dozen eggs a year or about 135 dozen a month.
Egg prices vary, but in 2022 we paid about $2.49 per dozen at Costco in 5 dozen bundles, when we could get them. That's $340 per month, give or take. In 2023, we were getting jumbo eggs at Green Olive Market in South Plainfield for $1.50/dozen! After that, egg prices spiked due to bird flu. In 2026, after roller coaster pricing, we're back to approximately $1.90 per dozen.
To help meet our need, and thanks to Sarah Mazzarese, Brian Townley, Pat Bixel, Skip Shihar, Barbara Lyman, Ruth and Bruce Ryno, Leslie Taylor, another Barbara, Joe Bixel, Amber B, David B, Nancy McInerny, and St. Joseph Church in Hillsborough, we have thirteen regular donors of $10 monthly or $120 annually to help fund our egg purchases.
Two of our volunteers shop for eggs every few weeks to make sure the fridge is stocked and ready to go, so our Egg-O-Mats help fund those purchases. We're still a little short, so you have time to be an egg donor, or meetany of our other needs. Food donations are gratefully accepted, along with monetary contributions - they help us when donations don't keep up with demand.
Go to our www.tinyurl.com/starfishplfddonate, then select Egg-O-Mat from the dropdown list of choices. And "thank you" in advance!
