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Blogs About Table To Table Helping Neighbors

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 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:

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

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.

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:

Editor’s note: Table to Table Executive Director Heather Thompson wrote this opinion piece. It originally appeared on NJ.com Sunday, March 29, 2026. Click here to read the article.

Nearly three billion pounds of surplus food is produced each year in New Jersey — the majority of which goes to waste, despite being perfectly edible.

At the same time, more than 1.1 million New Jerseyans are food insecure, with limited or uncertain access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for themselves and their families. Of that number, a staggering 270,000 are children.

The amount of good food being discarded while so many people struggle to access food represents a significant disconnect. But there is good news in New Jersey.

A New Law Pushes Food Waste Reduction

A law passed in January mandates county-level solid waste management districts to reduce annual food waste by 50% by 2035. It is a significant step that will benefit the environment by reducing methane gas emissions and has strong potential to benefit neighbors facing food insecurity.

While national goals to reduce food waste have been in place since 2015, and state goals since 2017, this marks the first time New Jersey has implemented legislation specifically aimed at driving action at the local level.

With the passage of this bill, county officials, municipal leaders and local organizations are mobilizing to explore strategies that will be most effective for their own communities.

The legislation also highlights the donation of perishable food as a key strategy, reinforcing what organizations like Table to Table have known for many years: food rescue — where food businesses donate surplus fresh and prepared food that is quickly delivered to pantries, shelters and other community organizations — is a highly effective model that benefits everyone involved.

Donation Before Composting

When many people think about reducing food waste, composting is often the first solution that comes to mind. Composting is far preferable to sending food to landfills, but when food is still edible, donation should be the first step.

Take an oddly shaped apple, for example. A shopper may pass it over at the supermarket in favor of something that looks more perfect.

After a few days, a new shipment arrives, shelves are cleared and that apple is removed. It does not need to be thrown away. It is perfectly edible and likely quite delicious.

Through food rescue, that apple can be safely donated and end up in a child’s lunch box the next day. If it is badly bruised, it can instead go to a local farm for animal feed. Only when food is no longer safe for consumption of any kind should it be composted.

It Takes a Village to Rescue Food

Building a sustainable and scalable food rescue system requires collective effort. Several food recovery organizations across New Jersey play critical roles in linking surplus food to those in need. Hundreds of food businesses have committed to donating quality surplus food.

Thousands of volunteers conduct rescues, support outreach and assist local pantries and food distributions to ensure food reaches neighbors who need it.

With this new law in place, those local networks can grow and coordinate around shared goals — ensuring more good food ends up on tables instead of in landfills.

Food rescue is an efficient solution to reducing food waste while directly addressing food insecurity. It is a win-win model with room for everyone to participate.

As New Jersey counties embrace food rescue as a core strategy, our air will get cleaner, landfills will grow more slowly, and, most importantly, our neighbors and their children will be nourished.

Heather Thompson is the executive director of Table to Table, a New Jersey nonprofit that bridges the gap between food waste and food insecurity by mobilizing refrigerated trucks and volunteers to rescue fresh surplus food — the equivalent of more than 25 million meals annually — and deliver it directly to pantries, shelters, and community agencies.

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:

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on TAPinto Wayne. Click here to read the original article.

The Wayne Rotary Club, working alongside the Wayne Volunteers and nonprofit Table to Table, is organizing a large-scale meal-packing event Saturday, April 18 at the Wayne Community Center.

The goal is to prepare 2,000 meal packs for more than 10 organizations across Passaic County, TAPinto Wayne reported. Table to Table volunteers will collect the meal packs and deliver them to the partner organizations.

Making sandwiches and creating meal packs are just two of the ways volunteers can give of their time and energy to our 26-year mission of rescuing food, reducing waste, and relieving hunger.

For ways you can volunteer to help Table to Table, click here.

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:

Students from Ridgewood’s Willard Elementary School collected bags of food for us as part of the school’s Service Day March 17.

Fifth-graders organized the food by type. They then took items from each food type and made 34 food packs that we delivered to the Ridgewood YMCA for their food distribution.

Students also drew sketches of what a food rescue hero looks like to them and were asked how food rescue heroes help others. One student responded that they help by, “Saving the food that would go waste and giving it to people in need.”

Every participating student received a Table to Table Food Rescue Hero badge to let others know the role they played in alleviating hunger that day.

Food drives are one component of our School Partnerships initiative. We partner with elementary, middle, and high schools, along with universities, on a wide range of food drives to collect nutritious fruits and vegetables, sandwiches, and turkeys and hams for the holidays.

The Ridgewood Public School District is a stout supporter of ours. The district and us joined forces to form Bergen County’s first district-wide food rescue relationship. Nourishing surplus meals and snacks from seven school cafeterias are collected from each of the schools by Pomptonian Food Service, the district’s food service company, rescued by local volunteers, and delivered to Ridgecrest Senior Apartments through Table to Table’s I-Rescue App. More than 10,000 pounds of nutritious food has been rescued to date.

 “Our connection with Table to Table is a vital part of our commitment to a greener, more supportive Ridgewood,” said Dr. Mark Schwarz, Superintendent of Schools. “We are proud of this shared mission to eliminate food waste in our cafeterias and redirect those resources to those in need. It’s a powerful lesson for our students: when we work together, we can turn a logistical challenge into a community solution.”

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:

Brendan O’Byrne is the subject of Table to Table’s most recent volunteer spotlight.

“One of my best friends is on the Table to Table Board of Directors, David Hildes, and we go to a lot of Table to Table Chefs Galas together. I just retired and I told him that it was my time to pay him back for all the times he’s invited my wife and I to be at his table.”

Volunteering Like Brendan Does

Signing up to be a Table to Table volunteer is easy. Julie Kinner, Table to Table’s Vice President of Operations, said all you have to do is download the Table to Table I-Rescue App, powered by Food Rescue Hero, on your phone to become a food rescue hero! You’ll complete a simple registration process and volunteer agreement, and then you can get started. The app walks you through every step! This is what Kaleb uses.

Volunteers of all ages are welcome to volunteer with our food rescue program. However, the driver must have a valid driver’s license, and a valid vehicle registration and insurance. 

Since we launched, more than 350 volunteers have completed more than 9,600 rescues and delivered more than 2 million pounds of donated food that would have been thrown away.

As New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue, our mission is to reduce food waste and provide nourishment to our food-insecure neighbors throughout North Jersey. We rescue millions of pounds of fresh food annually that would otherwise be wasted and end up in landfills, contributing to climate change. We deliver it to partner organizations who support the nearly 1.1 million people in our area who need it most.

Together, we can reduce food waste in our home and make a positive impact on the planet. Every little bit of effort — no matter how small — leads to change.

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