Inside Table to Table’s Skills-Based Volunteering Project with Novartis

Editor’s note: This blog post originally appeared on Common Impact’s website. Click here to read the rest of the blog.

When you think of a hero, you might picture someone in a cape. But at Table to Table, heroes come in all forms. Some drive minivans full of food, and some are retirees with a little extra time. In this spotlight, we sat down with Stephanie Conley-Webb, volunteer manager at Table to Table, to hear how her organization is tackling hunger across New Jersey through creative food rescue strategies and community partnerships, including skills-based volunteering.

Today, thanks to I-Rescue and the support of our amazing volunteers, we recover surplus food from local restaurants, grocery stores, caterers, and corporate and school cafeterias, among many others.

Stephanie Conley-Webb, Table to Table’s volunteer coordinator

Stephanie shares powerful stories that show the impact of Table to Table’s work. She also reflects on how Table to Table leveled up its volunteer program after participating in a skills-based volunteering project with Novartis and Common Impact. The insights they gained about storytelling, inclusion, and how a simple name change can spark big engagement are already making a difference.

“We’re celebrating 26 years of impact this year and know we can always do more. In 2021, we realized that sending a 26-foot refrigerated truck to pick up a few pizzas from a local pizzeria wasn’t the best use of resources. That’s when we partnered with a food rescue app, launching our I-Rescue program. What started as a way to recover a few hundred thousand pounds of food quickly grew,” Stephanie said. “In 2024 alone, we rescued over 1.8 million pounds of food that would have otherwise gone to waste through the app. Today, thanks to I-Rescue and the support of our amazing volunteers, we recover surplus food from local restaurants, grocery stores, caterers, and corporate and school cafeterias, among many others.”

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 303 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 120,700 tons of nutritious food—enough for 241,400,846 million meals—and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 544 metric tons of methane saved.

Related:

• 2 New Jersey Nonprofits Team Up to Distribute Food to Those in Need
• Rescuing Food, Empowering Communities
• Table to Table Gets $50K Grant to Fight Food Insecurity
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• 25 of New Jersey’s best chefs to cook tableside at annual charity gala. See who’s coming.