CIT teams up with Table to Table to produce 100K fresh meals for Northern N.J. – NJ.com

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 1.44 million new unemployment claims have been filed in New Jersey. The impact is still mounting with 28,000 more claims filed in the final week of July.

The rise in unemployment goes hand-in-hand with the rise in food insecurity, and there have been no shortage of charitable contributions aimed at helping those in need: from Stop & Shop and the Community FoodBank of N.J. working to distribute 5 tons of produce and emergency food boxes, to food banks receiving $20 million in aid, and the story of a New Jersey man who runs a free biweekly food pantry out of his garage.

The latest effort comes from CIT Group, Inc., which announced it plans on donating enough food to produce 100,000 fresh meals for the community-based food rescue program, Table to Table, as part of its Acts of Caring initiative.

“Our Acts of Caring donation to Table to Table addresses a community need brought to us by one of our customers, and advances the efforts of our employees who helped combat food insecurity in their neighborhoods this June by volunteering over 1,500 hours to causes focused on providing basic needs and hunger relief,” Steve Solk, president, Consumer Banking at CIT, said in a press release. “We’re proud to support causes that truly make a difference in our communities and are personally meaningful to our customers and our team.”

Table to Table is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1999 with the idea to repurpose food from restaurants, supermarkets, food distributors and hospital/corporate cafeterias that would otherwise be wasted. The non-profit has teamed with over 150 partners, and delivers the food to 250 organizations across Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties.

Table to Table delivers the food the same day its donated, using a fleet of refrigerated vehicles to deliver the food to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior adult facilities, day care centers, homes for victims and children of domestic violent, after-school programs and pantries serving the working poor. Table to Table distributed 26 million meals in 2019 alone.

“Hunger and food insecurity are significant problems facing New Jersey, with one in eight households struggling to find enough food for the week,” Ilene Isaacs, Table to Table’s Executive Director, said in the press release. “CIT’s generous donation will help our organization redistribute the bounty of nutritious fresh food that our partners choose to donate rather than waste, turning it into thousands of meals for hungry people in our communities.”

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Evan Slavit may be reached at eslavit@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.