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Welcome Sam Fouts, GreenIowa AmeriCorps!

February 2, 2026

We’re so excited to welcome Sam Fouts, Green Iowa AmeriCorps Food Recovery Program Development Specialist! Sam started back in October and quickly became acquainted with our gleaning initiatives, assisting with large end of season harvests. During his 11 month term at T2T, Sam will work on projects in our supply chain food recovery, food waste education, and local foods programs, as well as assisting with food donor relationship building and culturally relevant food sourcing.

Sam has a degree in Literature and Creative Writing, and has completed two residencies at the Kenyon Writer’s Workshop. In his undergraduate studies, Sam also studied food anthropology and served in a humanities program centered around environmental justice. “While I have adjacent experience in outreach and community work, I’ve never done anything related to food rescue. I’m here, because I want to learn-and because I love to learn.” Sam said of his interest in the position. He is most excited to start working with our food donors, strengthening current relationships, and building new ones.

Sam is originally from Cleveland, Ohio! His favorite food memory involves a German bar called Steinkellers in Oxford, Ohio. “A few days before I graduated I went with some friends for trivia. The place is set in a basement, built like a cellar. To celebrate, we all bought schnitzels and 2 liters of beer, which came in a giant boot-shaped glass we got to keep afterward.” Sam has particularly enjoyed getting to know T2T’s many volunteers, and in his short time here has already befriended many of them! If you haven’t met Sam yet, please help welcome him to the team and stop by to say hi, you can find him in the first office on the lefthand side of the hallway.

Welcome Sam!

Good Problems, Harder Days: Inside Table to Table’s Work Right Now

T2T Communications/News /

December 23, 2025

On a chilly weekday morning at Table to Table’s warehouse, everyone pauses when three overstuffed donation carts roll through the door. No warning, no email, no scheduled drop-off – just a flood of canned goods and pantry staples collected by a local office that felt compelled to help. Staff glance at one another, laugh, and spring into motion.

It’s what they lovingly call a “good problem,” the kind of daily surprise that defines Iowa City’s food rescue network. And lately, good problems, and harder ones, have been arriving more often.

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courtesy of Coralville Pantry 9-20-23 Harry and Nancy Olthoff (1)

For nearly 30 years, Table to Table has connected surplus food from grocery stores, restaurants, farms and distributors to more than 45 food access partners across Johnson County. But as the cost of living rises and federal assistance programs face cuts, that mission has taken on added weight. Need is increasing. Donations fluctuate. And the volunteers who power the entire operation are showing up in record numbers.

One of the team members at the center of the daily shuffle is Operations Manager Elizabeth Wagner, who jokes that her job changes every 10 minutes.

“You learn to adapt to anything here,” Wagner said. “One day you’re coordinating 25 volunteers, the next you’re arranging a trucking donation we only heard about an hour ago.”

Wagner oversees everything from the warehouse floor to the vehicle fleet, from grant support to advocacy work. She also administers FoodForce, the software system built on the Salesforce platform that tracks every pound of food rescued and where it goes, all the volunteer activity, as well as financial donations.

Table to Table now rescues roughly 2.6 million pounds of food each year – nearly 40 million pounds since its founding in 1996. But demand on the receiving end is growing even faster.

“Our food access network serves an average of 11,000 neighbors a month,” Wagner said. “32,000 people annually. That’s about one in five Johnson County residents. A few years ago, it was one in seven. The need is increasing across the board.”

Staff point to rising grocery prices, housing costs and cuts to safety-net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP. When Iowa’s SNAP emergency allotments through pandemic funding ended in 2022, the ripple effect was immediate. Then, more recently in November, SNAP beneficiaries experienced a three week delay in receiving grocery funds. Dispatcher and Local Foods Recovery Coordinator Ryan Mohwinkle said one of the most noticeable shifts wasn’t just the increase in need – it was how quickly the community responded.

“One of the most immediate changes I noticed was the community response to the crisis,” Mohwinkle said. “We saw a significant increase in walk-in and monetary donations from community members who wanted to help however they could. I also fielded numerous calls from people asking how they could best help. The Johnson County community really stepped up to try and help meet the need.”

That response shows up not only in donations, but in the growing number of volunteers willing to step in.
Volunteer Program Manager Jared Long coordinates weekly food rescue routes, scheduling different vans to travel to partner locations where staff and volunteers collect surplus food and deliver it to local pantries and nonprofit organizations. As frustration over federal policy changes mounted earlier this year, volunteer interest surged.

“Usually I can put people on a route the next day,” Long said. “This fall, I was booking people three weeks out.”

The increase marks a dramatic shift for an organization that once struggled to staff weekend routes. Now, Long balances training, scheduling and overflow interest – challenges he describes as welcome ones.

“Great problems to have,” he said.

For longtime volunteers, the impact of Table to Table’s work is most visible at the delivery stops.

“For me, the most rewarding part is the delivery to the recipients,” said Marnie Saeugling, who has volunteered with the organization for nearly six years. “You build relationships with the people who are receiving it, so you know what they need and what doesn’t work for their organization. We pack accordingly, and you get to see it being put to good use.”

That relationship-building turns food rescue into something deeply personal.

“You see the amount of food you get from places like Trader Joe’s,” said Greg Clancy, who has volunteered for about a decade. “To know that it would have gone into the landfill if you weren’t doing this – you feel like you’re doing something worthwhile.” Trader Joe’s is unique in the way it prioritizes food donation and is one of Table to Table’s top three food donors.

Volunteers say food insecurity is broader than many people realize.

“You just don’t know the depth or the breadth of food insecurity,” Clancy said. “It’s from all walks of life. It’s growing, and it’s not getting any better. So we’re just trying to do what little we can to relieve an overwhelming situation.”

The work itself requires more than goodwill. Packing routes, organizing trucks and navigating deliveries takes coordination and skill.

“It takes a different set of skills to learn how to do this work,” Saeugling said. “There’s a fair amount of logistics – packing the boxes just right, organizing the truck, learning how to move through the community.”
That structure is part of what keeps volunteers coming back.

“One of the things that’s attractive about this volunteer job is that you have a job to do,” said Marcia Musgrove, who began volunteering shortly before the pandemic. “You know you’re needed. If you don’t do it, that’s a problem. You really feel like you have a purpose.”

Volunteers have also noticed changes in recent months, not only in need, but in how the community has responded.

“What I’ve seen most is the response from the Iowa City community,” Clancy said. “There are more cars just bringing bags of food or things from their gardens. It does seem a lot fuller than usual.”

They credit Table to Table’s leadership and evolving systems – from improved volunteer training to more efficient routing – for keeping up.

“Table to Table has really evolved over time to meet the needs with more efficiency and more dedication,” Musgrove said.

Back at the warehouse, that adaptability plays out every morning. Route sheets are checked. Vans are loaded. Plans shift as donations arrive.

It’s slightly chaotic, deeply collaborative and quietly powerful.

Whether it’s a surprise truckload, a volunteer adapting mid-route or a community member walking in with a few bags of food, the mission stays the same: rescue good food, get it to people who need it and keep the community fed.

Written by Greta Schaub, University of Iowa Journalism student

2025 End of Season Gleaning Wrap Up

T2T Communications/News /gleaning /

November 26, 2025

We found out in March that our regular seasonal AmeriCorps roles would be unavailable. Since these folks spearheaded the T2T gleaning program, we weren’t quite sure what this harvest season would look like. A small operational staff means we rely heavily on these positions to run our seasonal programs, but once again, our endlessly hardworking and dedicated volunteer network stepped up to help us meet the need, and went above and beyond. 2025 was our biggest gleaning season yet! T2T staff, volunteers, and AmeriCorps members went on 101 gleans at local farms, gardens, and orchards to harvest a grand total of 15,321 lbs. of fresh, local produce. Through our gleaning program we’re able to provide our local pantries and food access partners with hyper-local, farm fresh produce that typically goes home with folks within a matter of hours. Read on for some of our favorite gleaning stories of the year!

Phoenix Farm - SILT

A glean in October at Phoenix Farm in Morse, IA produced 255 lbs. Of organic apples with the help of Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) staff member, Joe Klingelhutz. SILT is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting land in the Heartland to grow food. Phoenix Farm was donated to SILT by Suzan Erem and Paul Durrenberger who believed the land should be protected for sustainable food farming forever. SILT will continue to steward this land for conservation and food farming for years to come. “We are excited to work with organizations like Table 2 Table to get healthy, local food into the community,” Joe said of the opportunity to glean with T2T.

Kroul Farms

In early August, T2T staff, volunteers, and AmeriCorps harvested 2,500 lbs. of fresh Iowa sweetcorn from Kroul Farms. “We were out there for three or four hours probably, just trying to get as much as we could. We filled up every single box we had which ended up basically filling the entire van.” All 2,500 lbs. were distributed to the local pantries within 24 hours of harvest, providing neighbors with the delicious Iowa sweet corn that we all love so much.

UIowa Plant Futures Initiative

Several members of the University of Iowa chapter of Plant Futures Initiative joined us for a glean at Chadek Community garden to harvest 50 lbs. of kale, peppers, cherry tomatoes, and more! The Plant Futures mission is to equip students to become the next generation of ethical leaders, system thinkers, and effective advocates for a plant-centric future for our planet, people, and animals. “We just started the chapter at Iowa this year, but there are over 100 chapters across the US and Latin America,” Kaitlyn, a T2T fleet and facility volunteer and Plant Futures member said. Kaitlyn organized this opportunity for her and fellow members, gaining valuable experience and insight into food farming and harvesting.

The Big Apple Orchard and Kroul Farms

We closed out the 2025 gleaning season on November 5th, with a double glean where T2T staff, volunteers, and AmeriCorps members harvested a whopping 2,515 lbs. of produce from Kroul Farms and The Big Apple Orchard. Marking the end of a historic harvest season, it was a great way to celebrate everything accomplished through the teamwork and dedication or our staff and volunteers. 2025 Gleaning Season by the Numbers…

Most gleans in a single day: 4!
Number of farms/gardens harvested from: 25!
Most gleans in one week: 8!
Total lbs.harvested this season: 15,321!

FY25 Financials

T2T Communications/Annual Impact Report, Annual Impact Report 2025, News /FY25 Annual Impact Report /

November 12, 2025

July 2024 – June 2025

Expenses: You’ve invested $699,897 to rescue 2.6 million lbs. of food valued at $8,433,511.

Income: Direct donations from community members like you make up well over half of our operating fund.

Income

Contributions & Events: $526,187 (68%)
Local Government Grants: $104,108 (13%)
Private Grants: $73,443 (10%)
United Way: $55,417 (7%)
Other: $17,635 (2%)

Expenses

Programs & Services: $557,758 (80%)
Management: $103,426 (15%)
Fundraising: $38,713 (5%)

Multiplying Impact Through Four Seasons of Food Rescue

T2T Communications/Annual Impact Report, Annual Impact Report 2025, News /FY25 Annual Impact Report /

November 10, 2025

T2T volunteer mary palmberg poses with farmer's market vendor.

In FY25, T2T recovered food from the Iowa City Farmer’s Market every Saturday, delivering 8,600 lbs. of hyperlocal, farm fresh produce to Johnson County neighbors. Long-time T2T volunteer Mary Palmberg has been running the Farmer’s Market route since 2020. Mary is not only a food rescue superhero, but an avid T2T spokesperson as well, educating new market vendors about what we do and how they can become a food donor. Since Mary took the lead, we’ve doubled the number of food donors from the farmer’s market!

Will and Dedi with a day's worth of rescued food outside of T2T van.

Will Keen and Dedi Walker deliver food to Ecumenical Towers, a senior assisted living complex, on their food rescue route every week. But they don’t just drop the food at the door and head to the next stop, Will and Dedi cart it all inside and set it out on tables for residents to easily pick up. Building relationships is a crucial part of our food rescue volunteer role. “They really look forward to it when Table to Table comes, so folks are always waiting while we set up the food for them. We get to know what foods they like best and whenever we get some of that on a route we make sure to save it for them.” – Dedi Walker

two volunteers delivering food to north liberty pantry.

The phone rings: a truck driver has a pallet of beef rejected by the customer for having the wrong brand label. Perfectly good food with nowhere to go. Within minutes, T2T is on it. These rescues move fast. Drivers are on a deadline. As staff Gina Hudson says, “It’s always a team effort. It’s unpredictable and even more fast-moving than our day-to-day food rescue routes, and comes together through real-time teamwork.”

In FY25, volunteers gave 11,500 hours to drive routes, glean fields, and move truckloads of food.Together, we turned $699,000 into $8.4 million worth of food.

This content appears in the FY25 Annual Impact Report. View a PDF of the mailed version here.

Two Midwestone employees stand side by side in the field.

With a grant from Volunteer Iowa, support from United Way, and a pilot group from MidWestOne, this year we offered group farm harvest opportunities. Gleaning volunteer and MidWestOne Bank’s President & COO Len Devaisher shared, “What a privilege it is to support the powerful work of Table to Table. Gleaning captures the essence of what makes Table to Table so special: nothing wasted, working together so that all of our neighbors have the opportunity to enjoy fresh, quality food.” We can’t send a group of 10 out on a route in a two-seater van, but you can join us in the field! To volunteer, email gleaning@table2table.org

Shaping Food Access for Challenges Ahead: 2025 Letter from the Director

T2T Communications/Annual Impact Report, Annual Impact Report 2025, News /FY25 Annual Impact Report, letters from the director /

November 10, 2025

Every crisis brings a choice. Do we keep going as usual, or do we pause and ask what this moment demands? A crisis is always a failure of systems, and at Table to Table we have long seen that food waste is one of those failures. Good food going to waste is not a problem of scarcity, but of systems breaking down. Food recovery is how we respond.

We see cracks in the system as openings. Openings to recover what would be lost. Openings to do things differently. Openings to innovate, to collaborate, to build something better. What sustains us is not just getting through hard times. It is the courage to put neighbors first and to keep asking: What do families need right now? What do we need to do differently? How can we respond together? This year we saw plenty of cracks and failures in the systems of the food safety net. Looming federal cuts to SNAP, reductions in free USDA food for pantries, and rising grocery costs placed more pressure on families already struggling to make ends meet.

Yet, instead of breaking apart, the Food Access Network came together with more resolve than ever to serve one in five county residents, more than 25,000 neighbors in all. We came together to plan new strategies for the challenges ahead. Working together gives us hope, as one partner shared: “I felt like an equal shareholder, not just the little guy at the table. I left feeling hopeful that together we could really make a difference and move the needle.”

When the Food Access Network identified partners who were serving larger family sizes with specific cultural needs, Table to Table allocated family sized bulk proteins and culturally familiar foods to meet those needs. When one partner reduced hours, others stepped up, and Table to Table quickly rerouted deliveries and directed neighbors to those resources so no family went without a meal.

When we lost AmeriCorps support for gleaning, staff and volunteers filled the gaps, maintaining critical farm relationships and harvesting thousands of pounds of produce. Partnership allows us to stretch every dollar, distributing 2.6 million pounds of food to meet the scale of community need with efficiency and impact far beyond our size. This is what it means to build something better. By choosing collaboration in the face of crisis, we are reshaping food access so every neighbor has the food they need and deserve.

Nicki Ross, Executive Director

60% of our work is funded by individual donors. Every mile driven, every meal delivered, every neighbor served starts with your gift. Donate Today: https://table2table.org/donation/

FY25 Board of Directors

Sue Andrews
Brad Berentson
Betsy Boyd
Jennifer De La Cruz
Todd Gibson
Kaily Hoard
Tom Jepson, Secretary
Molly Johnson, Treasurer
Mary Kelley, Chair
Patty Meier
Cindi Schrock
Rajni Vijh
Leslie Yoder, Vice Chair

FY25 Staff Team

Nicki Ross, Executive Director
Chaim Jensen, Logistics & Relationships Coordinator
Jared Long, Volunteer Coordinator
Elizabeth Wagner, Operations Coordinator
Natalie Leathers, Communications & Development Coordinator
Ryan Mohwinkle, Dispatcher & Local Foods Recovery Coordinator
Gina Hudson, Distribution Coordinator
Celia Eckermann, Bookkeeper & Administrative Assistant

FY25 AmeriCorps Service Members

Emma Duncan 2024 Summer GreenIowa AmeriCorps
Noah Thomas 2024 Summer AmeriCorps
Adam McFee 2024 Summer AmeriCorps
Natalie Tapscott 2024-2025 GreenIowa AmeriCorps
Jada McDonald 2025 Nourish Iowa AmeriCorps VISTA

This content appears in the FY25 Annual Impact Report. View a PDF of the mailed version here.

This Holiday Season, Reduce Your Food Waste and Get Involved!

T2T Communications/Love Food, Fight Waste, News /

November 7, 2025

Food waste significantly increases from November to New Year’s. Why? Our Johnson County community celebrates a diversity of holidays during this time of year, and one thing most of them have in common is…food! While feasts and large meal preparations can run the risk of producing food waste, they also present an opportunity to be proactive and creative in our approach to food in an effort to reduce waste. As food wasted has immense social, economic, and climatic impacts, choosing to reduce food waste is a great way to have a positive impact on your local community. Read on to learn about how you can reduce your holiday food waste, and some bonus content on how you can help increase food access for your neighbors who may not have enough to eat when the holidays roll around.

Before Holiday Gatherings

Before you head to the grocery store to purchase food for holiday meal prep…

- - Shop your kitchen. Inventory which food items you already have in the refrigerator and pantry to avoid buying duplicates.
  - Make a shopping list. What meals or dishes do you plan to make? How many guests do you plan to host? Asking these questions helps to identify types and quantities of ingredients you will need. Making a list for holiday meal shopping keeps you on track at the grocery store and lessens the chance of overbuying. Plus, it may reduce stress during a busy shopping season.
    - Looking for list-making resources? Check out the many available grocery list phone apps, such as AnyList, Mealime, or OurGroceries.
  - Eat a snack or meal. It is important to avoid grocery shopping when hungry as you are more susceptible to impulse purchases and overbuying.

Once at the grocery store…

- Think realistically about items on sale, such as “10 for $5”. It may seem like a tempting deal, but will you actually be able to consume ten? If not, you could end up with food waste, which results in money wasted.
- Control quantity. To have better control of quantity when purchasing produce items, opt for unpackaged fresh fruits and vegetables. (Added climate benefit: you reduce packaging, too!)

During Holiday Gatherings

Share leftovers.

- Having guests over for a big meal? Send them home with leftovers packed in to-go containers.
  - Reuse tip: Save up empty and clean plastic containers to pack leftovers (such as cottage cheese tubs, deli meat containers, or take-out containers).

After Holiday Gatherings

Use up leftover ingredients.

- - Four recipe types that help to use up leftover ingredients are soups, sauces, casseroles, and smoothies! These categories allow for a lot of flexibility in terms of ingredients, which is great when we don’t always know what we might have leftover.
  - Find recipes based on your available ingredients at home with Supercook or Big Oven.

Freeze, freeze, freeze!

- Not going to eat it right away? Freeze food to preserve freshness.

Keep an eye on the refrigerator.

- It can be easy for a container of strawberries or carton of milk to get unintentionally pushed to the back of the refrigerator and forgotten about. On a weekly basis, reorganize your refrigerator and move items that need to be eaten soon to the front to ensure they get used up.
Compost the unavoidable food waste items. We will always have turkey bones, eggshells, coffee grounds and other types of food that we do not traditionally eat. Handle these materials in an environmentally-friendly way with composting.
- Compost at the curb: If you live in a single-family home up to a 4-plex residential building, you receive curbside composting for food and yard waste. Learn more: www.icgov.org/curbside
- Compost at the Landfill’s Compost Facility: Service area residents that do not have access to curbside composting can take food waste and other organic materials directly to the Iowa City Landfill’s Compost Facility. Learn more: www.icgov.org/landfill

Everyone deserves to eat, and the holidays can be the hardest time of year for folks who are food insecure. Consider donating good food to those in need this holiday season.

Table to Table accepts all food and personal hygiene items that are accepted by our pantry partners and distributes them equitably across the Johnson County Food Access Network. That means your donation will go to more than just one pantry in the community, extending your impact even farther.
Most needed items and donation drop-off instructions for the three major pantries and Food Pantry at Iowa:

Food Donation FAQ:
- Can I donate something if it’s past the best by/use by/ sell by date printed on it?
  - Yes, items past their ‘best by’ or ‘sell by’ dates are accepted, provided they are not more than one year expired and show no signs of spoilage.
- Can I donate an opened box of granola bars?
  - Yes, if a box of food items is opened but the items are all individually wrapped, labelled, and list the ingredients on them then you can still donate them.
- What non-food items can I donate?
  - Certain non-food items are some of the most requested items at pantries such as diapers, toilet paper, pet food, laundry detergent, and personal hygiene products as these are often the most expensive in stores.
- What sorts of things cannot be accepted at the pantries?
  - Baby food or formula past “best by” date
  - Cans with sharp dents or rust that cannot be easily removed
  - Unlabeled food
  - Homemade food items
  - Meat from home freezer
  - Non-consumable items like clothing, furniture, etc.
    - An exception to this is North Liberty Pantry, they accept clothing donations
- Can I start a food drive at my work/neighborhood/class, etc.?
  - Yes! Email info@table2table.org to coordinate a food drive benefitting Table to Table.

“No Two Days Are the Same,” GIA Member Natalie Tapscott Reflects on Time at T2T

T2T Communications/News, Team News /AmeriCorps /

September 4, 2025

We bid farewell to GreenIowa AmeriCorps member Natalie Tapscott back in mid-August after an 11-month service term during which she focused on expanding our local foods and food transportation recovery initiatives, as well as contributing heavily to the Love Food Fight Waste campaign that aims to increase food waste education in the community. To increase exposure of our food transportation recovery program, Natalie met with key players across all levels of the system to gain perspective on the causes behind rejected truckloads and how to best streamline that process. During her term we rescued more than 90,000 lbs. of food through this initiative and formed several key connections to food transportation donor partners. In her work with our local foods recovery program, Natalie played a crucial role in connecting with new home gardens and farms throughout the community to add to our gleaning network. We harvested nearly 7,000 lbs. of fresh, hyper-local produce through this program during Natalie’s term.

In reflecting on her time at T2T, Natalie highlighted how no two days were quite the same, “It feels fitting that on my last day I showed up and immediately started sorting through a rejected truckload of leaking oat milk and jumped on a redistribution route. The most memorable days at Table to Table were always the ones that turned out differently than I expected when I walked in in the morning.” Always motivated and enthusiastic, Natalie became a go-to person in times like these where quick action and flexibility played a crucial role in successfully distributing large amounts of food at the last minute.

Another key takeaway of her time at T2T was a newfound appreciation and understanding for the Johnson County community, “Having moved to Iowa City to be a student, I feel like there were many aspects of the community I was disconnected from. But through serving Johnson County during my time at Table to Table, I can confidently say the connection I built to my community will forever be impactful to me.”

From the perspective of the T2T team, we could not have made it through this year without her. As Executive Director Nicki Ross explains, “From the start, Natalie jumped right into the heart of our food rescue efforts with enthusiasm. In her first month, she coordinated gleaning efforts, supporting food transport recovery, and hosted free produce stands. Her leadership in the Love Food, Fight Waste campaign and the gleaning program has been particularly impactful in a year where staffing and time were short, but opportunities were great. This year looked so much different than it could have without her exceptional support.”

Natalie came to us with a degree in Political Science from the University of Iowa, and is returning to the university upon completing her term to pursue a Master’s in Elementary Education. “From tabling at outreach events, to creating educational activities for students, to speaking on the KCJJ Noon show, to developing food waste education bus ads, the skills I developed at T2T will help me immensely in my future personal and professional goals,” Natalie said of her growth and education during her time at T2T, “I hope to continue to be an advocate for community engagement and environmental stewardship through sustainable food production and mindful consumption habits. The hands-on experience I got working on outreach initiatives in the community, building the Love Food Fight Waste campaign, and local food recovery initiatives this past Summer have prepared me to do just that.”

We’re lucky that Natalie plans to stay engaged with T2T while finishing her education at the university by volunteering on a few gleans this Fall and subbing in on a route every now and then! Her parting words to the T2T community when reflecting on her term were, “To everyone I met while serving at T2T, from staff, to volunteers, to partners, I will certainly miss the work you do and the people you are.” We’ll miss Natalie just as much, and could not be more thankful for her time with us!

Christina Sullivan Welcome Announcement

T2T Communications/News, Team News /staff /

September 2, 2025

We are thrilled to welcome Christina Sullivan as our new Donor Relations Officer at Table to Table! With her strong background in community engagement, storytelling, and relationship-building, she brings both heart and skill to our small but mighty development team.

Born and raised right here in Iowa City, Christina earned her B.A. in Theatre Arts with a minor in Spanish from the University of Iowa. For the past four years, she managed the beloved downtown boutique Textiles, where she was known for her personalized customer service and compelling marketing emails. It’s

through her role there that she’s built meaningful connections across our community—including many familiar faces in the nonprofit and donor world. Her ability to connect, communicate, and cultivate relationships will be essential for her new role.

When asked why she was drawn to Table to Table, she shared a quote from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “If you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside yourself. Something to repair tears in your community. Something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than you. That’s what I think a meaningful life is- living not for oneself, but for one’s community.” A message that resonates with a lot of us contributing to the mission of Table to Table. As Christina says, “One thing we all have in common is that we all need to eat. I strongly believe we all deserve to eat well. Table to Table helps to repair very fundamental tears in not only our community, but our world- decreasing waste, rerouting resources to those that need it most, and treating everyone with dignity. No one should go hungry when there is abundance, and I’m proud to work for an organization that is such a cornerstone to our Iowa City support network.” A longtime fan of our work, she’s thrilled to now be part of it and is especially excited to meet volunteers and donors at upcoming events. Some of you have already met her when she shared a Friday food rescue route with her dad, Tim Sullivan— clearly, she’s eager to get involved hands-on.

A fun fact about Christina? She is a Shakespearean actor by night! She’s been part of many outdoor productions at Riverside Theatre and is currently touring Romeo and Juliet to high schools as part of a program to make the arts more accessible. If you recognize her from the stage—say hi! Oh, and if you’re in need of a dance partner, she’s also certified in 13 ballroom styles (yes, really).

And we’re always interested in favorite food memories of staff and volunteers. For Christina, it’s homemade strawberry pie from her mom’s garden. When it comes time to eat the first strawberry pie of the season, Christina, her mom and her sister all share a first bite at the same time.

Please join us in giving her a heartfelt welcome as she begins this new chapter with Table to Table. We’re lucky to have her on the team!

Table to Table volunteer unloading cantaloupes at Community Food Bank.

T2T Receives Donation of 10,000 Cantaloupes!

T2T Communications/Food On the Move Newsletter, News /food rescued /

July 18, 2025

A truckload of 10,000 cantaloupe made its way to T2T on the morning of July 18th through our food transportation industry rescue initiative!

This estimated 30,000 lbs. of melons is headed to T2T through a partnership with Farmlink, an organization that connects farm products to communities facing food insecurity and who was also responsible for last year’s epic 40,000 lb. potato recovery. The logistics of moving this quantity of food was be made possible through partnership Lineage Logistics, Farr Transport, and the tireless work of the T2T volunteer network and staff members.

Today, cantaloupes were distributed by the pallet to North Liberty Food Pantry, Coralville Community Food Pantry, CommUnity Food Bank in Iowa City, Open Heartland, and North Liberty Summer Lunch & Fun. On Monday, we’ll distribute to many more neighborhood pantries in our area and share several pallets with Riverbend Regional Food Bank to deliver to folks across Eastern Iowa.

Table to Table food recovery efforts provide the majority of fresh produce in the Johnson County food access network. We’ve worked for the last three years to grow food transportation recovery relationships. This food rescue opportunity comes at a time when food insecurity is on the rise and the recent federal budget reconciliation bill makes deep cuts to the food safety net. As we continue to respond to impacts of these cuts, donations like this will be more important than ever.

Stay tuned for details on a cantaloupe distribution pop-up stand early next week! Like our work? Make a donation or sign up to volunteer!