Over a quarter of a million Mississippi children have been designated as “food insecure.”
According to statistics given by Extra Table, a Hattiesburg non-profit that is providing healthy and nutritious food to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the state, nearly 23 percent of all Mississippians are labeled “food insecure.”
Martha Allen, executive director for Extra Table, spoke to the Indianola Rotary Club this week about dozens of food pantries the organizations is partnering with in order to provide healthy food options in places where they may not be available or are unaffordable for some.
“In places like the Delta, poverty is high and people are hungry,” Allen said.
Extra Table was started by chef Robert St. John in 2009, when he got a call from Edwards Street Fellowship Center in Hattiesburg after the mission ran out of food.
It took some combing through his distributor, Sysco’s bulk items, but he finally put together an order he felt would sufficiently feed the families of the center.
After that, he approached Sysco about partnering to bring this model to other pantries across the state.
Allen said that the beauty of Extra Table is that each donation is coded to the county or area in which the donation is intended.
For instance, donations intended to help those in Sunflower County would go directly to the nearest food pantry.
“The money stays local,” Allen said. “We code it by area.”
Allen said Extra Table shipped out 130 tons of food last year alone.
Those interested in becoming involved can visit Extra Table’s website at www.ExtraTable.org/donate.
