November 2018
Food insecurity is an issue that is frequently brought into focus during the holiday season. Students at Academy of Our Lady of Mount Carmel decided to do what they could to help feed needy families by taking part in community-based food rescue program Table to Table’s “Bag a Lunch, Save a Bunch” initiative. Students taking part eat a bagged lunch and donate the money they would have spent on buying lunch...
Opinion: We all have a role in confronting food waste
August 2018
For Table to Table, the issue of food waste has been central to our service since 1999. In fact, our entire not-for-profit food rescue program started with the alarming statistic that 40 percent of all food in America is wasted while, in New Jersey alone, 1 in 10 people do not have enough to eat...
This is what happens to fruits and vegetables the supermarket can't sell
July 2018
One recent morning, a line of trucks were delivering shipments of food to the loading docks behind the large ShopRite in Wallington — the side most customers never see...
Ironbound Community Corp and Table to Table partner to feed the community
July 2018
Every Friday morning between April and November, a truck filled with fresh fruits and vegetables pulls up to the Ironbound Community Corp. (ICC) Family Success Center on Cortland Street in the easternmost section of Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood...
April 2017
Take a ride on a Table to Table delivery truck to see and hear the impact of the organization’s work in the local community.
Englewood Cliffs org. collects, distributes otherwise wasted food
Table to Table ‘rescues’ food from roughly 200 donors like supermarkets or restaurants
An organization in Englewood Cliffs is going above and beyond to put food on the table for families in need. It's called Table to Table. The Englewood Cliffs organization "rescues" food from roughly 200 donors like supermarkets or restaurants where food would normally be thrown out.
Table to Table Earns “Neighborhood” Award, The Star Ledger
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Table To Table, a food rescue program, was named a Bank of America Neighborhood Builder for 2016. Through the Neighborhood Builders program, the bank provides non-profits with...
Fort Lee chef created his own kind of kitchen
Hugo Medrano managed restaurants catering to celebrities in New York for many years before he traded it all in to become director of food services at Bright Side Manor, an assisted living facility in Teaneck.
"Every day, restaurants and grocery stores are left with food that ends up in a landfill. In fact, 40 percent of all food in the United States is wasted. In 1999, Claire Insalata Poulos realized something needed to change, so she founded Table to Table, a nonprofit based in Englewood Cliffs, with the goal of turning unsold foods into hot meals for people in need."
Heaps of still-edible food are wasted each day. The community wants to buck that trend and feed its neighbors instead.
Driven to ServeTable to Table marks 15 years as Northern New Jersey's first and only food rescue program
MaxLite Donates to New Jersey Food Rescue ProgramNOVEMBER 13, 2014, EXHIBITOR ONLINE
MaxLite announced it donated $1,500 to Table to Table through the organization’s “Bag a Lunch, Help a Bunch” program. Table to Table is a community-based food rescue program that collects fresh and perishable food that would otherwise be wasted and delivers it to nearly 70 recipient agencies that serve the hungry throughout Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Essex counties in New Jersey.
“As a company with New Jersey roots, we feel it is important to be a strong community partner and give back to residents that are less fortunate,” said MaxLite President and CEO Yon Sung. “I am proud to match the generosity of our team members with a company donation to Table to Table.”
This marks the fourth year MaxLite has participated in Table to Table’s “Bag a Lunch, Help a Bunch” campaign. Employees at the company’s West Caldwell headquarters were asked to donate the equivalent of one day’s lunch money, or more, and place the donation within Table to Table’s “Bag a Lunch, Help a Bunch” signature brown paper collection bags. In return, they received a company-sponsored lunch and a 100 percent match on their donation. Read more...
Table to Table cited for 'exemplary work'
Bergen-based Table to Table is one of seven organizations from New Jersey that is listed in the Good Food Org Guide released by the James Beard Foundation and Food Tank. The guide "highlights nonprofit organizations that are doing exemplary work in the United States in the areas of food and agriculture, nutrition and health, hunger and obesity, and food justice." The other groups are Foodshed Alliance, Garden State Urban Farms, Isles, New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition, New Jersey Farmers' Market Council of Farmers and Communities, and The Youth Farmstand Program. For more information: foodtank.org
News from Provident Bank
OCTOBER 21, 2014, MYCENTRALJERSEY.COM
Also, Provident introduced Free BusinessAdvantageSM Checking with Cash Back Rewards to businesses in Somerset and Hunterdon counties, where its merger with Team Capital Bank is complete.
BusinessAdvantage Checking has no minimum balance requirement and provides for 1,000 free transactions per statement period and offers cash back on the total amount of eligible signature-based point-of-sale debit card purchases. Any expense items that can be purchased or paid for using a debit card, including office supplies, utilities, meals, insurance, lease payments and more, can earn cash that is deposited directly into the company's Business Advantage account. Read more...
Don't even think of saying no to Claire Insalata Poulos.
The founder and president of Table to Table, the area's only "food rescue" organization, which three weeks ago celebrated its 15th anniversary, will "noodge," as one restaurateur put it, until she gets her yes. And some of the region's – make that the country's — most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs have said yes to helping her venerated organization feed fresh, wholesome, perishable food to the hungry in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties.
Chefs like Thomas Keller, Emeril Lagasse, Tom Colicchio, Lidia Bastianich, Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali and such restaurateurs as Danny Meyer and Drew Nieporent have all pitched in to help Table to Table raise funds needed to deliver food that would otherwise be thrown out by supermarkets, distributors and restaurants to the thousands upon thousands of the undernourished in our region.
How does the sweet-faced, gray-haired, genial 67-year-old get the food industry's bold-face names to help Table to Table when chefs and restaurateurs are inundated with requests for help from scores of nonprofits? Read more...
Table To Table Helps The Hungry (Chasing NJ Segment with Tamara Laine)
FEBRUARY 26, 2014, CHASING NJ
Nearly 40% of the food produced in America goes to waste and in New Jersey, where 1 in 5 children are hungry, this is a big problem.In 1999 a company called Table to Table figured out a way to alleviate both of these problems and they continue to do their part to help people all over the Garden State. Table to Table is a not-for-profit company that picks up edible food from grocery stores and restaurants, which is usually thrown out, and delivers it to 80 different recipient agencies. This includes: soup kitchens, safe houses with women and children, drug rehab centers, homeless shelters, programs helping veterans, HIV day centers and elder care programs.
For hours, Table to Table truck drivers make their stops collecting perfectly good food. The heartwarming part then happens during the second part of the day when the drop-offs begin.
Chef Jeff Cale with the Good Will Rescue Mission discussed how he’s able to make healthy hearty meals for people who otherwise would go without. “He lets me know what he has and what I can use so that’s how we do that,” he said
Emily Force works with Table to table and she said that people really rely on their service. “Hunger doesn’t take a day off. We are out there in the snow, rain or shine. We are out there working our tails off to try and find as much food as we can, perishable food, nutritious food,” she explained.
Table to Table doesn’t charge for their service, but they are continuing to look for more donors so that they can keep expanding and help more people who are in need. Last year alone this charity helped feed 11 million people without any government funding.
Table to Table Addresses Hunger in North Jersey [AUDIO]
The food rescue program, Table to Table, was launched in 1998 to aid people in need in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic Counties.
As they get set to celebrate their 15th anniversary, they continue their terrific work of redistributing prepared and perishable foods.
“Our mission is to pick up food that would otherwise be wasted and make sure that it goes to people, who can thrive through receiving it,” Executive Director Ilene Isaacs said. This includes the food at restaurants and supermarkets that is leftover at the end of the day.
Table to Table sends refrigerated to pick up the food and deliver it to 70 agencies, such as elder care facilities, drug rehab centers, homeless shelters, and pantries serving the ‘working poor.’ They are the first and only food rescue program in Northeast New Jersey solely dedicated to this cause.
The non-profit delivers enough food to serve more than 11 million meals to the community. Isaacs said that despite word that the economy is improving, they continue to see an uptick for people using their services.
“We are seeing the situation getting harder and harder for those who are in need,” she explained. The recent reductions in federal SNAP funding has contributed to the growing problem.
Isaacs said that holidays, such as the upcoming Thanksgiving Day, are particularly tough because most people want to have a traditional holiday meal. “We know that because we are getting more and more calls asking for food,” she said.
Another impressive part of Table to Table is the fact that they raise their own money and never charge a fee to the recipient agencies for the food it delivers. Nearly 98 percent of every dollar raised goes directly into the program, which serves more than 12,000 people weekly. “The need is there all year round and we are there all year round, consistently and reliably bringing food,” Isaacs said.
Driven to ServeTable to Table marks 15 years as Northern New Jersey's first and only food rescue program
ShopRite of Northvale, an Inserra Supermarkets store, recently "Pedaled out Hunger" to win 200 pounds of Cabot cheese on behalf of Table to Table. The competition, sponsored by Cabot Creamery Cooperative, raised hunger awareness while promoting physical activity and friendly competition among area ShopRite associates and customers.
"More than 1.2 million people in New Jersey are hungry, including one in five children," said Samantha Pappas, ShopRite of Northvale dietitian. "ShopRite of Northvale and Inserra Supermarkets are proud to be among the donors helping Table to Table achieve its goal of delivering 13 million meals this year." Recently, ShopRite also hosted its annual Partners in Caring Program, which challenges associates in six states to band together as part of National Hunger Month to raise awareness and funds to alleviate hunger in their local communities. Partners in Caring has raised more than $29 million donated to 1,700 hunger relief agencies in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Read more...
MaxLite Donates to New Jersey Food Rescue ProgramNOVEMBER 13, 2014, EXHIBITOR ONLINE
MaxLite announced it donated $1,500 to Table to Table through the organization’s “Bag a Lunch, Help a Bunch” program. Table to Table is a community-based food rescue program that collects fresh and perishable food that would otherwise be wasted and delivers it to nearly 70 recipient agencies that serve the hungry throughout Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Essex counties in New Jersey.
“As a company with New Jersey roots, we feel it is important to be a strong community partner and give back to residents that are less fortunate,” said MaxLite President and CEO Yon Sung. “I am proud to match the generosity of our team members with a company donation to Table to Table.”
This marks the fourth year MaxLite has participated in Table to Table’s “Bag a Lunch, Help a Bunch” campaign. Employees at the company’s West Caldwell headquarters were asked to donate the equivalent of one day’s lunch money, or more, and place the donation within Table to Table’s “Bag a Lunch, Help a Bunch” signature brown paper collection bags. In return, they received a company-sponsored lunch and a 100 percent match on their donation. Read more...
Table to Table cited for 'exemplary work'
Bergen-based Table to Table is one of seven organizations from New Jersey that is listed in the Good Food Org Guide released by the James Beard Foundation and Food Tank. The guide "highlights nonprofit organizations that are doing exemplary work in the United States in the areas of food and agriculture, nutrition and health, hunger and obesity, and food justice." The other groups are Foodshed Alliance, Garden State Urban Farms, Isles, New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition, New Jersey Farmers' Market Council of Farmers and Communities, and The Youth Farmstand Program. For more information: foodtank.org
News from Provident Bank
OCTOBER 21, 2014, MYCENTRALJERSEY.COM
Also, Provident introduced Free BusinessAdvantageSM Checking with Cash Back Rewards to businesses in Somerset and Hunterdon counties, where its merger with Team Capital Bank is complete.
BusinessAdvantage Checking has no minimum balance requirement and provides for 1,000 free transactions per statement period and offers cash back on the total amount of eligible signature-based point-of-sale debit card purchases. Any expense items that can be purchased or paid for using a debit card, including office supplies, utilities, meals, insurance, lease payments and more, can earn cash that is deposited directly into the company's Business Advantage account. Read more...
Don't even think of saying no to Claire Insalata Poulos.
The founder and president of Table to Table, the area's only "food rescue" organization, which three weeks ago celebrated its 15th anniversary, will "noodge," as one restaurateur put it, until she gets her yes. And some of the region's – make that the country's — most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs have said yes to helping her venerated organization feed fresh, wholesome, perishable food to the hungry in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties.
Chefs like Thomas Keller, Emeril Lagasse, Tom Colicchio, Lidia Bastianich, Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali and such restaurateurs as Danny Meyer and Drew Nieporent have all pitched in to help Table to Table raise funds needed to deliver food that would otherwise be thrown out by supermarkets, distributors and restaurants to the thousands upon thousands of the undernourished in our region.
How does the sweet-faced, gray-haired, genial 67-year-old get the food industry's bold-face names to help Table to Table when chefs and restaurateurs are inundated with requests for help from scores of nonprofits? Read more...
Table To Table Helps The Hungry (Chasing NJ Segment with Tamara Laine)
FEBRUARY 26, 2014, CHASING NJ
Nearly 40% of the food produced in America goes to waste and in New Jersey, where 1 in 5 children are hungry, this is a big problem.In 1999 a company called Table to Table figured out a way to alleviate both of these problems and they continue to do their part to help people all over the Garden State. Table to Table is a not-for-profit company that picks up edible food from grocery stores and restaurants, which is usually thrown out, and delivers it to 80 different recipient agencies. This includes: soup kitchens, safe houses with women and children, drug rehab centers, homeless shelters, programs helping veterans, HIV day centers and elder care programs.
For hours, Table to Table truck drivers make their stops collecting perfectly good food. The heartwarming part then happens during the second part of the day when the drop-offs begin.
Chef Jeff Cale with the Good Will Rescue Mission discussed how he’s able to make healthy hearty meals for people who otherwise would go without. “He lets me know what he has and what I can use so that’s how we do that,” he said
Emily Force works with Table to table and she said that people really rely on their service. “Hunger doesn’t take a day off. We are out there in the snow, rain or shine. We are out there working our tails off to try and find as much food as we can, perishable food, nutritious food,” she explained.
Table to Table doesn’t charge for their service, but they are continuing to look for more donors so that they can keep expanding and help more people who are in need. Last year alone this charity helped feed 11 million people without any government funding.
Table to Table Addresses Hunger in North Jersey [AUDIO]
The food rescue program, Table to Table, was launched in 1998 to aid people in need in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic Counties.
As they get set to celebrate their 15th anniversary, they continue their terrific work of redistributing prepared and perishable foods.
“Our mission is to pick up food that would otherwise be wasted and make sure that it goes to people, who can thrive through receiving it,” Executive Director Ilene Isaacs said. This includes the food at restaurants and supermarkets that is leftover at the end of the day.
Table to Table sends refrigerated to pick up the food and deliver it to 70 agencies, such as elder care facilities, drug rehab centers, homeless shelters, and pantries serving the ‘working poor.’ They are the first and only food rescue program in Northeast New Jersey solely dedicated to this cause.
The non-profit delivers enough food to serve more than 11 million meals to the community. Isaacs said that despite word that the economy is improving, they continue to see an uptick for people using their services.
“We are seeing the situation getting harder and harder for those who are in need,” she explained. The recent reductions in federal SNAP funding has contributed to the growing problem.
Isaacs said that holidays, such as the upcoming Thanksgiving Day, are particularly tough because most people want to have a traditional holiday meal. “We know that because we are getting more and more calls asking for food,” she said.
Another impressive part of Table to Table is the fact that they raise their own money and never charge a fee to the recipient agencies for the food it delivers. Nearly 98 percent of every dollar raised goes directly into the program, which serves more than 12,000 people weekly. “The need is there all year round and we are there all year round, consistently and reliably bringing food,” Isaacs said.