12 Days of Giving – Day 8: Table to Table

December 21, 2016

Table to Table is celebrated in Day 8 of our #12DaysofGiving Celebration. We are proud to highlight this organization that helps serve the hungry in our local NJ counties.

Table to Table is a community based food rescue program that collects prepared and perishable food that would otherwise be wasted and delivers it to organizations that serve the hungry in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties. The organization “rescues” food from about 200 donors (supermarkets, distributors, restaurants) and delivers it the same day and free of charge to over 80 community organizations including soup kitchens, homeless shelters, after-school programs and homes for the elderly.

1.2 million people in New Jersey are hungry, including 1 in 5 children. Every day, more families are lining up at food pantries and soup kitchens waiting for Table to Table’s deliveries and each week brings calls from additional agencies asking for fresh and healthy food. To all of them, this year, Table to Table has promised the delivery of 15 million meals. But to achieve this goal – they need our support.

Here at Wiss, we participated in Table to Table’s “Bag-A-Lunch, Help a Bunch” program. Marketing Coordiator, Jessica Quas explains “The program was about donating the money you’d normally spend on a day out at lunch to Table to Table. It could really be any amount and the bag itself had language describing how your donation would help. My personal donation of $25 ‘Brings fresh produce to a family of 4 for 2 months.’ It was nice knowing where my money was going, how exactly it was helping, and it’s honestly the smallest sacrifice I could make to simply bring in lunch one day instead of going out to eat. I encourage others to do the same within their organizations.”

Table to Table is now one of the most successful food rescue programs in the entire country serving as a model to other burgeoning hunger relief organizations. Since its inception, Table to Table has delivered enough food for over 75 million meals. Remarkably, that original handful of committed volunteers and chefs still work together, helping to feed the community.