Healthy volunteers and financial donations needed

Table to Table rescues and delivers half the food distributed to hungry people in Johnson County.

We are requesting financial donations and seeking temporary volunteers not in high-risk groups for Covid-19 to continue our local food rescue operations. As of Monday, March 23, we have temporarily paused operations for the first time in 24 years to restructure and respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. We must adjust to account for a temporary critical reduction in volunteers that transport the food to agencies throughout Johnson County that feed the hungry. We plan to re-initiate food rescue operations on Thursday, March 26, 2020.

As a volunteer-based operation, we are experiencing a critical shortage of volunteers, which contribute the hours that would otherwise have to be done by nine full-time staff. This current crisis has hit our volunteer force hard. On Friday, March 20, volunteers at high risk for hospitalization or death as a result of Covid-19 infection were asked to temporarily suspend their volunteer service. Due to the vast majority of our volunteers being older individuals and college students, 80% of our volunteers are no longer available to transport food to the hungry in Johnson County.

Our volunteers collect and redistribute 40,000 pounds of food each week, and this food is needed now more than ever. The food insecurity landscape in Johnson County is changing rapidly, with neighbors needing access to basic necessities as they experience unpaid time off or closures of other social services. As our partner organizations’ resources become scarce and the need continues to grow, they will need these 40,000 pounds of food per week more than ever. 

We need community support to bring operations back up to full capacity. Financial donations are critical at this time, as we will likely need to hire a temporary staff driver to make up for the significant volunteer force deficit. To donate, please visit www.table2table.org/donateonline.

Community members who do not fall into high-risk groups for Covid-19, have not traveled recently or come into contact with individuals infected with the virus, and who are feeling well and Covid-19 symptom-free are encouraged to lend a hand with food rescue route volunteering. To volunteer, contact us at volunteer@table2table.org or call (319) 337-3400.