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Tag: I-Rescue app

TRENTON, NJ – The Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette today announced the winners of the 26th annual Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards, New Jersey’s premier awards program that recognizes outstanding environmental achievements, programs and projects across the state. The awards were presented during a ceremony at the Historic Masonic Temple in Trenton.

“On behalf of the Governor, DEP and the I-Bank are proud to honor all of this year’s awardees for their spirited dedication to protecting the environment we all share and the health of our communities,” Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette said. “Their passion and dedication serve as an inspiration to us all and exemplifies why New Jersey is a national leader in environmental protection.”

The annual awards are given to individuals, businesses, organizations and communities that make exceptional efforts to protect the environment and advance solutions across diverse environmental matters, including environmental justice, climate change, sustainability and education. Deputy Commissioner Kati Angarone and I-Bank Executive Director David Zimmer presented the awards.

Richard J. Sullivan Award

Named for New Jersey’s first Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, the Richard J. Sullivan Award is given to a person who demonstrates exceptional leadership and outstanding accomplishments in safeguarding public health and protecting and enhancing the state’s environment and resources.

This year’s Sullivan Award was given to Joseph Seebode, Deputy District Engineer for the New York District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who has dedicated more than 35 years to advancing coastal resilience, environmental restoration and sustainable water management.

Seebode’s leadership helped guide post-Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts and other major projects such as the deepening of the Port of New York and New Jersey. A lifelong steward of waterways, Seebode exemplifies collaboration, innovation, and dedication to making the region safer, more resilient, and environmentally sound.

2025 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award Winners

James J. Florio Emerging Environmental Leader: Landon Hoberman

Landon Hoberman is the founder of the Student Environmental Ambassador (SEA) Program, a youth-led initiative empowering students to reduce plastic waste and promote civic engagement. Since 2023, SEA has reached more than 50,000 students with over 725 ambassadors across 14 states and three countries. Through initiatives like #reducebyrequest, SEA has prevented over 1.8 million single-use utensils from entering the environment, saved local restaurants more than $45,000, and inspired state legislation.

Climate Change Mitigation: Duke Farms

Duke Farms, a 2,700-acre center of the Doris Duke Foundation, is transforming its campus through its Natural Systems Energy Project to sharply reduce emissions and sequester carbon through reforestation and natural climate solutions. The project also includes a new solar energy system for powering the campus and aims to support an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2030.

Climate Resilience: City of Newark Office of Sustainability, Resilience & Community Transformation

The City of Newark Office of Sustainability, Resilience & Community Transformation leads initiatives to enhance climate resilience, focusing on the disproportionate impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. In the past year, the office expanded its “Beat the Heat” campaign and implemented urban cooling strategies including tree planting, pocket parks, and cool roof projects.

Environmental Justice: Montclair State University PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies

The Montclair State University PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies’ Green Teams Internship Program empowers diverse student teams to support communities facing disproportionate climate impacts. In 2025, ten teams partnered with nonprofits and municipalities—including Newark, Paterson, Montclair, and West Orange — to deliver projects that improved air and water quality, expanded tree canopies, strengthened food security, and advanced nature-based flood and heat resilience measures.

Healthy Communities: Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC)

ANJEC empowers New Jersey communities to protect natural resources and promote healthy, resilient environments. In the past year, ANJEC advanced this work through the restoration of the Parvin-Tarkiln Watershed in Vineland, adding tree pits, rain gardens, and riparian buffers that enhance local water quality and stormwater management.

Healthy Ecosystems and Habitats: Hunters Helping the Hungry

Hunters Helping the Hungry is a nonprofit organization that connects deer hunters, inspected processors, and food banks to provide venison to families in need. The organization supports responsible deer management that restores forest health, protects biodiversity, and strengthens food security. Recently, partnerships with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and New Jersey Farm Bureau eliminated processing fees and increased processor payments, boosting deer donations and meal distribution statewide.

Sustainability and Waste Reduction: Table to Table

Table to Table, New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue organization, delivers surplus fresh food to those in need. In the past year alone, the organization rescued more than 23 million pounds of food and expanded its data-driven network to reach the most food-insecure areas. Since its founding, Table to Table has prevented more than 240 million pounds of food waste and significantly reduced methane emissions.

Watershed Management and Water Resources: PolyGone Systems (in partnership with Atlantic County Utilities Authority)

PolyGone Systems, a Princeton University spinoff cleantech company, is pioneering technology to remove microplastics from waterways. In partnership with the Atlantic County Utilities Authority, PolyGone launched the world’s first municipal-scale microplastic removal pilot in 2024 and successfully captured millions of microplastic particles from wastewater.

Environmental Education: Erin Colfax, Unity Charter School

Erin Colfax is a Science Integrationist at Unity Charter School in Morristown and brings sustainability to life through hands-on, inquiry-based science education for grades K–8. Colfax engages students in real-world projects like water quality monitoring and biodiversity studies and led a project to transform the school’s lower field into a living classroom that deepens environmental literacy and stewardship.

About the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards

The Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards has been New Jersey’s premier environmental awards program since 2000. The DEP, New Jersey Infrastructure Bank and the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology sponsor the program.

A panel of judges evaluate nominations for their impact on the environment, actions to address the needs of New Jersey, leadership and innovation, and use of outreach and educational activities to make an impact in their community. To learn more about the program, visit dep.nj.gov/awards.

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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 work with food businesses of all types to rescue fresh, nutritious surplus food, and deliver it for free to 300+ social service organizations, pantries, shelters, community produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Through our community partnerships, Table to Table reaches families, children, veterans, older adults, and others in need, improving food security, nutritional access, and better health. 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, while also saving over 544 metric tons of methane from impacting climate change by preventing food waste.

Food security exists when 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 and healthy life. Why food insecurity occurs is an issue with no easy answer, but the response to it is one that has fueled our 26-year mission: People need regular access to healthy, nutritious food.

The problem of food insecurity in New Jersey is a complex issue. Estimates are that nearly 3 billion pounds of food are wasted annually in the Garden State while 1.1 million residents, including 270,000 children, experience food insecurity. Determining the root causes of this widespread issue is also complex.

The New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate (OFSA) partnered with the Center for Nutrition & Health Impact to develop and implement a set of measures framed around the six dimensions of food security: Stability, utilization, access, agency, availability, and sustainability. OFSA recently published a report outlining what it found to be the reasons why food insecurity occurs. This data collection initiative informs the OFSA’s strategic planning efforts to ultimately guide cross-sector collaboration and policy development regarding food insecurity throughout New Jersey. Also, findings can serve as a baseline from which future progress can be measured.

The full report is embedded here:

Exploring-the-Six-Dimensions-of-Food-Security-in-New-Jersey_October-2025

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:

Editor’s note: This story originally aired on News 12 New Jersey. Click here for the story.

News 12 New Jersey ran a story about our food rescue partnership with the Bloomfield School District.

News 12 rode along with our Executive Director Heather Thompson as she rescued food from Watsessing Elementary School and brought it to a local food pantry.

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:

Editor’s note: Skip to the 35-minute mark for Heather Thompson’s interview.

The shutdown may be over, but the need remains.

The strain on the state’s emergency food system was felt across New Jersey during the 43-day federal government shutdown. Despite the shutdown ending, the need to support the system throughout the holiday season remains.

Table to Table Executive Director Heather Thompson spoke about the ongoing effect the shutdown had on the emergency food system and the 800,000 people it serves during a live interview on FOX 5 News in New York Monday.

“It’s important to recognize that just because the shutdown is over, the need is still present,” Thompson said. “It has been present. It unfortunately is a continuingly growing need.”

The effect of the seven-day funding halt of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was deeply felt in the Garden State.

“The impact of that was felt from multiple directions by so many of our neighbors,” Thompson said. “So they turned to their local food pantries for help. Those organizations that are really designed to be a last line of defense in general where can turn to bridge the [food] gap, all of a sudden, became a first line of defense. All of a sudden, people were relying on the support of these local pantries, these local community organizations because they simply had no where else to turn during that period of time.”

Giving Back This Holiday Season

Thompson encourages residents to reach out to their local food pantries to determine what they need.

“Every pantry is different, some have refrigerators, some don’t. Some need certain types of food depending on who they are feeding,” she said. “Reach out and see if they need extra help doing weekly distributions.”

Another tangible way to help is to volunteer with Table to Table. Volunteers can rescue healthy surplus food and deliver it to local community partners using the Table to Table I-Rescue App. Rescues take less than 1 hour and all the instructions are in the volunteer-driven app.

“Our volunteers by the end of the year will have rescued and delivered more than 2 million meals worth of fresh food, which is pretty incredible,” Thompson said.

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:

By Nicolle Walker

Thanksgiving is a time to slow down, reconnect with family and friends, and savor dishes that many of us don’t make the rest of the year.

The feelings of nostalgia surrounding this time of year can lead to overindulgence, but that doesn’t mean you need to eat that same plate of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce over and over.

If you are looking for new ways to enjoy your leftovers, look no further:

Stuffing Waffles

  • Spray your waffle maker well and place 1 cup of room-temperature stuffing in each section, close, and cook until crispy and browned
  • Top with leftover cranberry sauce or gravy and enjoy

Breakfast Burritos

  • Wrap turkey, stuffing, a couple scrambled eggs and a splash of gravy in a flour tortilla
  • Heat a pan over medium high heat and spray with a touch of oil
  • Lay burritos seam side down and let cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden, flip carefully and brown the top side
  • Enjoy dipped in extra cranberry sauce

Stuffing Strata

Stuffing Strata is the perfect morning after breakfast.

  • Before heading off to bed combine leftover stuffing with shredded turkey or ham any roasted veggies, eggs, & cream, and a healthy sprinkle of cheese.
  • Cover and let sit in the fridge overnight, then bake covered at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes for a hearty breakfast that everyone will love. 

Potato Soup

Mashed potatoes almost never last in my house, but if you find yourself with extras, try making a pot of potato soup!

  • Bring your mashed potatoes to room temperature, then combine them in a pot with your choice of chicken or vegetable broth and whisk. Start with equal amounts of potatoes and broth, then thin until you find your desired consistency.
  • Serve with shredded cheddar, sliced scallions, maybe some crumbled bacon, and of course a turkey sandwich! 

These are just a few ideas about transforming Thanksgiving leftovers into delicious meals! Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Editor’s note: Nicolle Walker is a volunteer with Table to Table and a member of our Emerging Leaders Council. She is the executive chef and owner of Love & Plates in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Related:

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Jersey Bee.

Bloomfield public schools partnered with Table to Table, a social service organization in Saddle Brook. Surplus food from all Bloomfield public schools will be donated to local food pantries. Table to Table also seeks volunteers to collect and drop off food donations. Volunteers can sign up online.

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:

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on TAPinto Bloomfield. Read the original article here.

In an inspiring collaboration aimed at addressing both food insecurity and environmental sustainability, the Bloomfield School District and Table to Table have launched a groundbreaking food rescue initiative. This partnership, the first of its kind in the district, focuses on rescuing surplus meals and snacks from 10 local schools and redistributing them to community food pantries, providing nourishment to those in need.

The initiative is part of Table to Table’s broader mission to reduce food waste and ensure that excess food is put to good use, rather than ending up in landfills. Using the organization’s I-Rescue App, volunteers are able to coordinate the pickup of leftover food from Bloomfield’s schools and deliver it to local pantries. In just a few short weeks since its launch, the partnership has already resulted in the rescue of enough food to provide over 7,000 meals — directly benefitting families, seniors, and others facing hunger in the community.

Heather Thompson, executive director of Table to Table, emphasized the importance of reducing food waste and alleviating hunger in New Jersey. “Nearly 3 billion pounds of food is wasted annually in New Jersey while almost 1.1 million people in our state, including 270,000 children, face hunger. Table to Table offers a solution that keeps good, nourishing food out of landfills, and ensures it reaches the dinner tables of families, senior citizens, and other folks facing food insecurity,” said Thompson. “It’s especially inspiring to see our schools and students stepping up to help in this way, particularly as a Bloomfield resident and Franklin School parent myself.”

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:

A Table to Table food rescue from the Bloomfield Public School District.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on EssexNewsDaily.com. Read the original article here.

Table to Table, a food rescue organization, and the Bloomfield School District have joined forces to reduce food waste and feed those in need with the first ever district-wide food rescue partnership. 

As part of the collaboration, surplus meals and snacks from 10 school cafeterias are being rescued weekly by volunteers, and delivered to local community pantries through Table to Table’s I-Rescue App.

“Nearly 3 billion pounds of food is wasted annually in New Jersey while almost 1.1 million people in our state, including 270,000 children, face hunger. Table to Table offers a solution that keeps good, nourishing food out of landfills, and ensures it reaches the dinner tables of families, senior citizens, and other folks facing food insecurity,” said Heather Thompson, a Bloomfield native and executive director of Table to Table. “We work with food businesses of all types and sizes, but it’s especially inspiring to see our schools and students stepping up to help in this way, especially as a Bloomfield resident and Franklin School parent myself. Through our collaboration with the District, we’ve already rescued enough food for over 7,000 meals since our launch last month – and those meals and snacks go right to our neighbors in need.”

The participating Bloomfield Schools include Berkeley School; Bloomfield High School; Bloomfield Middle School; Brookdale School; Carteret School; Demarest School; Fairview School; Franklin School; Oak View School, and Watsessing School. 

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:

Editor’s note: This podcast originally aired on Total Food Service’s YouTube channel.

Total Food Service interviewed Julie Kinner, Table to Table’s vice president of operations, for their Virtual Breakfast Session podcast that aired Oct. 26. Julie appeared on a panel where she discussed Table to Table’s 26-year mission with other food service professionals and sector leaders.

Also appeared on the panel were: Liz Neumark, CEO at Great Performances, founder of Katchke Farms, and the Sylvan Center, Dan Meiser, founder and CEO at 85th Day, co-owner of Stone Acre Farms and The Yellow Schoolhouse, Fred Klashman – Publisher at Total Food Service magazine and co-producer of the Virtual Breakfast Session podcast, and Larry Sashin, president of L. Sashin & Associates and creator and co-producer of the VBS.

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:

By Executive Director Heather Thompson

Dear Friends, Partners, and Supporters,

I am writing to you on a truly somber note as the looming food insecurity crisis draws near. At this very moment, food pantries and emergency food providers across New Jersey are facing growing and unprecedented demand as the ongoing federal shutdown delays SNAP benefits. Based on what we know now, beginning on November 1 over 800,000 New Jersey residents – families with children; working folks like teachers and restaurant servers; senior citizens and veterans – will not have their SNAP cards filled until further notice.

As a result, lines at pantries are already growing longer by the day – and our 300+ community partners are reaching out to us every day, desperate for more fresh food to support the growing need.

Rescuing and delivering free, surplus food to communities in need is Table to Table’s core mission and daily work. And as need spikes in our communities, we are doubling down. Our drivers are working overtime, picking up surplus fresh food from farms, distributors, meal kit companies, and supermarkets. Our devoted ‘Food Rescue Hero’ volunteers are running rescues 7 days a week to pick up food from local markets, cafeterias, and restaurants, and delivering directly to nearby partners.

Everyone can play a role to rescue food and feed our neighbors during this time – including you.

Every single dollar you donate provides the resources to rescue and deliver food for another 10 meals. A donation of $344 funds a refrigerated truck and driver for a full day, rescuing enough fresh food for thousands of meals. If you are in a position to give, please know that your gift will go to work immediately to feed neighbors right here in New Jersey.

Donate

And, there are plenty of other ways you can get involved:

Individuals and Families

Volunteer
Host a Food Drive
Donate

Corporations and Community/Civic Organizations

  • Rally your employees/members to volunteer for a food distribution, an I-Rescue App takeover, or a day of making bagged meals
  • Make a contribution or organize an employee giving campaign
  • Host a produce or turkey drive        
Become a Partner

Food Businesses and Restaurants

  • Connect with us to donate surplus food to community partners – we’ll pick up from your location for free, and safely deliver to a nearby pantry or shelter
  • If you’re planning to offer free food or meals for your neighbors during this time, we’re happy to help transport and distribute
Donate Food

Schools

  • Host a produce or turkey drive (if you’ve already hosted one – THANK YOU!)
  • Connect with us for cafeteria rescues
Partner With Us

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