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Author: Daniel Hubbard

Julie received the Transformational Leadership Award

Julie Kinner, Table to Table’s longtime Vice President of Operations, was honored with a Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award at a ceremony Friday.

Julie and 29 other Berrie Award recipients were honored by the Russell Berrie Foundation. She received the foundation’s Transformational Leadership Award. The special award recognizes inspiring leaders and volunteers who “extend the ripple effect of good works that will continue to transform lives and communities around New Jersey.” Recipients must be nominated by previous Berrie Award honorees.

Julie has been affiliated with Table to Table since it’s founding in 1999. She spent her first six years as a volunteer, helping to organize food donors, connect us with community organizations feeding people in need, and raise awareness and funds to keep the organization going and growing.

Related: Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award Honors Table to Table’s Julie Kinner

“Without Julie, Table to Table simply would not be the force for good that it has become in New Jersey. If a community partner needs help, she’s the first to raise her hand, and if someone reaches out with a question or concern, she picks up the phone and asks, ‘What can we do?’” said Heather Thompson, Executive Director of Table to Table. “Julie has been the quite but steady force behind so much of our growth, success, and impact for 26 years and counting.”

It is the 30th and final year the foundation is administering the awards. Table to Table Founder Claire Insalata Poulos, received a Berrie Award in 2010.

“As the awards come to a close, I cannot think of a New Jersey leader more deserving of being celebrated for the difference she makes, which translates into nourishment for hundreds of thousands of our neighbors every year,” Heather said.

Congratulations, Julie!

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.

Related:

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared on binje.com. Click here to read the entire article.

Table to Table’s Vice President of Operations Julie Kinner will be honored with a Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award Friday.

Kinner will receive the organization’s Transformational Leadership Award. This award recognizes inspiring leaders and volunteers nominated by previous honorees.

“Through their dedicated service to others, they extend the ripple effect of good works that will continue to transform lives and communities around New Jersey,” the organization said.

This year is final year the awards will be administered; 2026 is the first time the Russell Berrie Foundation has designated half of its award to Gen Z changemakers younger than 27. The foundation has honored 500 individuals in its 30-year history.

“This is Russ’s lasting legacy: to connect the past to the future and create a community of individuals who, together, are making a positive impact,” said Angelica Berrie, president of the Russell Berrie Foundation.

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 million meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane saved.

Related:

Editor’s note: This story was aggregated from an article by Montclair Local. Click here to read the entire article.

Nonprofit leaders, government officials, and community agencies gathered last week for the third annual Partners for Good Conference hosted by Table to Table, a food rescue organization serving North Jersey.

Related: How New Jersey Built the Country’s Most Ambitious Food Security Measurement Model

The daylong event, co-sponsored by Montclair State University’s Social Work and Child Advocacy Department, brought together food pantries, shelters, and service providers that distribute surplus food to residents across Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Hudson, and Morris counties.

Related: New Jersey Publishes 3-Year Food Security Strategic Plan

The conference featured panel discussions, breakout sessions, and presentations focused on challenges facing food assistance providers, including rising demand and limited resources. Officials from the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate also presented the state’s new Food Security Strategic Plan and answered questions from attendees.

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane.

Related:

Montclair State University’s Social Work and Child Advocacy Department Co-Sponsors Event 

April 30, 2025 – Saddle Brook, NJ – Table to Table, New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue organization, successfully concluded its third annual Partners for Good Conference co-sponsored by Montclair State University’s Social Work and Child Advocacy Department. The Partners for Good Conference is designed to connect, inform and empower the nonprofit’s partner pantries, social service agencies, shelters, and other community partners, who distribute the surplus food delivered by Table to Table to communities in need throughout Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Hudson, and Morris counties.  

“This year’s Partners for Good Conference provided our community partners with an interactive venue to network, learn, and share resources to support their vital work in our communities,” said Heather Thompson, Executive Director, Table to Table. “Many of our partners are navigating extraordinary challenges – increasing need among our neighbors, limited staffs and budgets, and a multitude of unpredictable circumstances. This annual gathering is an opportunity to not only share critical information and build connections among our partners; it also welcomes State and County leaders to listen and engage in our collective efforts to reduce food insecurity,” Thompson concluded.

The day-long Conference featured partner panels, breakout discussions, and presentations addressing critical and timely topics that were informed by Table to Table’s Community Advisory Board. The afternoon capped off with a discussion about New Jersey’s newly launched Food Security Strategic Plan led by Mark Dinglasan and Dr. Jenny Schrum from the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate (OFSA). 

“OFSA applauds Table to Table for another successful Annual Partners for Good Conference. It was a pleasure for Dr. Jenny and me to present the statewide food security strategic plan and implementation tool kit to the attendees and to answer questions,” said Mark Dinglasan, Executive Director, NJ Office of the Food Security Advocate. “New Jersey’s food security efforts, including the strategic plan, are rooted in the belief that true food security can only be achieved through multisector partnerships that have consensus and collaboration among interconnected partners. Hunger, poverty, and food insecurity are insidious foes that are highly complex and interconnected. Our efforts to combat them must be just as interconnected, and it is through events like the annual Partners for Good Conference that we are able to build these rich connections,” Dinglasan concluded. 

“We were pleased to partner with Table to Table for the second year in a row to support these important efforts and realize Montclair State University’s mission to serve our state’s dynamic, varied communities,” said Milton A. Fuentes, Psy.D. Interim Chair, Social Work and Child Advocacy Special Advisor to the Provost/Professor, Psychology Department, Montclair State University.  

Table to Table’s Partners for Good Conference was made possible through the generosity of our sponsors: Montclair State University’s Social Work and Child Advocacy, College of Humanities and Social Sciences; ShopRite Inserra Supermarkets Inc.; Horizon; Something to Talk About Marketing; Dorfman Abrams Music Accountants & Advisors; Bergen County Camera; and Premium Digital Office Solutions. 

About Table to Table 

Table to Table (http://www.tabletotable.org) is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity.We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane. 

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Editor’s note: This blog post was aggregated from an article by the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College. Click here to read the entire article.

Government has always tracked food security through the lens of affordability through the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, which is distributed annually to about 40,000 households.

The definition of food security as adopted by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, is a condition where all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active, healthy lifestyle.

Related: 1 In 10 NJ Households Experienced Food Insecurity, New Report Shows

Dr. Jenny Schrum, the director of research and evaluation strategy at the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate (OFSA), sought to go deeper with a new food security measurement model. The OFSA, headed by Executive Director Mark Dinglasan, is the first and only state-level food security agency in the country.

“We always associate food security with money, which is incredibly salient, but not the whole story,” Schrum told the New York City Food Policy Center. “If people have enough money, if may give you access. But there are many reasons people are food insecurity.”

As an outgrowth of the research, OFSA created the New Jersey Food Security Strategic Plan, a three-year initiative to guide and coordinate actions in addressing food insecurity statewide. A recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture released shows that one in 10 New Jersey households were food insecure between 2022 and 2024.

Related: New Jersey Publishes 3-Year Food Security Strategic Plan

Schrum’s research also led the OFSA to survey more than 2,000 New Jersey residents from communities with high rates of food insecurity. Those findings were documented in the OFSA’s Exploring the Six Dimensions of Food Security in New Jersey. The report has an interactive dashboard that lets readers explore results from the survey.

“With inflation, a changing economy, and climate change reshaping what we can grow and where, food insecurity is going to affect far more people than it does today,” Schrum told the New York City Food Policy Center. “If we only ever respond to the emergency, we never address what’s causing it. Better definitions, better data, better program data, that’s how we start to get ahead of it.”

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane.

Related:

To our Food Rescue Hero Volunteers,

I want to take a moment this National Volunteer Appreciation Month to personally thank you for the incredible role you play in advancing our mission. Because of your dedication, compassion, and willingness to step up day after day, we continue to rescue and deliver millions of pounds of fresh, nutritious food to our neighbors in need. That is not just impactful; it is life-changing work.

You are more than volunteers — you are a vital part of the Table to Table family. Every pickup, every delivery, every moment you give helps reduce food waste while bringing hope and nourishment to communities across New Jersey. The difference you make is real, and it is deeply appreciated.

April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month, and there is no better time to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary commitment you bring to this work. This month is a reminder of just how essential volunteers are to communities everywhere, but here at Table to Table, we see your impact every single day. We are incredibly grateful for all that you do and proud to celebrate YOU.

Simply put, none of this is possible without you.

Thanks again for your time, your energy, and your belief in what we do. Together, let’s continue to turn surplus into sustenance – one rescue at a time.

With gratitude,

A stylized handwritten signature in black ink, featuring looping, cursive strokes with overlapping lines and flourishes on a light background.

Heather Thompson,

Executive Director

Table to Table

Four women sit around a table indoors, each holding an orange and smiling or looking toward the camera. Yarn, cups, and craft supplies are spread across the table, suggesting a casual group activity or social gathering in a cozy room with wooden furniture and framed photos on the wall.

Editor’s note: Essex News Daily published an article featuring Table to Table partnering with the Bloomfield School District to rescue freshly-prepared food from school cafeterias and deliver it to our hungry neighbors. Read the original article here.

The food rescue organization Table to Table has launched a program, with help from the Grotta Fund for Older Adults, that is designed to provide local seniors with nourishing food for free, including a wide variety of fruit, meat, cereal packs, frozen meals, and Hello Fresh meal kits. 

Table to Table’s new program brings fresh rescued food, including prepared, ready-to-heat meals, whole fruit, salad cups, and cartons of milk. directly to participants of the Oakeside Seniors Program in Bloomfield, a bi-weekly social and wellness program for older adults run by the Township of Bloomfield and Neighbor to Neighbor Network. 

Table to Table also delivers to Manna Food Pantry and Toni’s Kitchen. These pantries then distribute the food to seniors through their soup kitchens, home delivery programs, and community distributions, ensuring that older adults who are homebound or have limited mobility can access nutritious food, according to a press release from the organization.  

Receiving this food from Table to Table at Oakeside is very beneficial to me. Not only is it always fresh and natural, but I also like the fact that it helps since I’m on a fixed income and have to stretch my pennies from month to month.


— Michelle, an Oakeside Senior Program participant

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane.

Related:

We are saddened to hear about the passing of Chef Tom Valenti. Beyond his incredible culinary talent, Chef Valenti was a champion of Table to Table’s mission, most notably at our annual Chef Galas throughout the years.  We are truly grateful for his passion, kindness, and belief in what we do. He will be dearly missed.

Valenti’s philanthropic efforts went beyond Table to Table’s mission of recuing food, reducing waste, and relieving hunger.

Chef Valenti established the Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund dedicated to benefit the surviving family members of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks who worked in the foodservice industry. A “Dine Out” date of Oct. 11, 2001 was set to generate funds for the effort. News of the effort soon spread beyond New York City and more than 5,000 restaurants around the world contributed to the endeavor. More than $23 million was raised as a result.

Valenti helped lead the Restaurants for Relief effort to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Editor’s note: Table to Table Executive Director Heather Thompson appeared on Healthy In The Garden State’s “A Dose of Health” short-form series highlighting the people, places, and resources supporting physical, mental, and emotional well-being across New Jersey.

In this episode of “A Dose of Health, Kate Cherichello Tente sits down with Heather Thompson, Executive Director of Table to Table — New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue organization. With Earth Day right around the corner, this conversation highlights the powerful connection between environmental health and human health. Table to Table is on a mission to reduce food waste, lower harmful methane emissions, and deliver fresh, nutritious food to neighbors facing food insecurity across northern New Jersey.

In this minisode, Kate and Heather explore:

From mobile markets to community partnerships, this episode is a reminder that small actions can create big change — for our health, our communities, and our planet.

Whether you’re looking to volunteer, donate, or simply learn how to waste less, this is a conversation that matters.

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane.

Related:

Fighting hunger while reducing food waste is the mission Table to Table, a nonprofit making a meaningful impact across New Jersey communities. This summer, Table to Table is expanding its reach through a new partnership with Goya Presents Flag Cities. Heather Thompson, Executive Director of Table to Table, spoke about the organization’s mission and this partnership on ONNJ’s “Mornings with Ken Rosato.”

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 276 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 133,271 tons of nutritious food — enough for 266,542,863 meals — and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 612 metric tons of methane.

Related:

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