About Us

In 2009, Restaurateur Robert St. John received a call from the Edwards Street Fellowship Center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Simply put, they had run out of food. Being a 30-year veteran of the restaurant industry, he figured the fastest, easiest way to get food to the pantry would be to call his Sysco sales representative, place an order, and have the truck dropship the order at the agency’s doorstep the next day. Robert put together an order and had it shipped to the pantry just in time to make sure that the clients who were depending on Edwards Street to feed their families got the food they so desperately needed. Afterward Robert wondered if other agencies throughout Mississippi were having similar problems. He found that there was a host of organizations throughout the state who had the same need and decided to approach Sysco to propose a question: “What if every business and home had an extra table where they could feed those in need? What would that look like?” Sysco loved the idea, and Extra Table was born.

Extra Table operated for 10 years with Sysco as their sole provider of food and delivery mechanism. In the face of Covid-19, with the cost of food skyrocketing and retail sized cans scarce, Extra Table had to re-evaluate purchasing and distribution methods in order to have a constant supply of healthy food on the road to pantries meeting the need and increase in requests for food. As of April 2020 and for the first time in Extra Table’s history, we are buying by the truckload and warehousing food in order to meet the demand and maintain our mission (thanks to some good folks our warehouse is FREE to us!). CHOW has joined the Extra Table team as our food broker and close partner handling all of our purchasing, logistics, delivery and warehousing needs.

WE FIGHT HUNGER DIFFERENTLY
Extra Table fundraises to purchase new, healthy and shelf-stable food to be delivered monthly to the food pantries or soup kitchens state-wide. While canned food drives are important to many of our pantries and are key for community support in small towns, Extra Table fights hunger differently. Canned food drives many times produce expired items or unusable foods.  Cranberry dressing is not a meal!  What are you to do with a can of water chestnuts? Not everyone has the ability or ingredients to prepare hamburger helper, and expired foods are just dangerous and certainly not wholesome. Quantities of great veggies are included in canned food drives BUT loads of lean proteins like tuna and peanut butter are not. Tuna and peanut butter are more expensive staple items that Extra Table procures by the truck load at extremely reduced prices and provides in larger quantities to pantry partners.

For the $10 spent purchasing canned goods for a school food drive that then has to be distributed, sorted and prepared by volunteers (by the can), Extra Table can buy greater quantities of food in larger containers and deliver it faster, mindful of limited volunteer time and abilities. Invest that same $10 with Extra Table and help us feed the masses in a more efficient and effective way!

While there are some complexities to each step, overall, our method is simple. 

Step 1: Fundraising
Extra Table fundraises and collects funds from donors just like you. Donations are coded by zip code, city or by pantry so your money stays local and 100% of your donation is spent on food. Remember, Admin costs are raised separately, and you would have to specify Admin in your donation line for even a penny to end up there! But hey, you want to support our two staffers by supporting Admin – bring it on! 

Step 2: Purchasing 
Extra Table purchases new, healthy and shelf-stable food by the truckload with the assistance of food brokers. 

Step 3: Deliveries 
Extra Table food is delivered the last week of each month. Our awesome delivery drivers unload and shelve food so pantry volunteer time and abilities can be used wisely. We delivery food monthly so that our pantry partners have no need for storing food or rationing it out in hopes of having enough for the entire year. We have the ability to increase the amount of food distributed during the summer months when kids are home and not receiving school breakfasts and lunches. We can shake up orders sending out more soup in the winter months and more fruit in the summer months.  

Step 4: Mississippians are fed!
Voila! Our hungry neighbors here in Mississippi get the food they so desperately need. That’s Extra Table – getting the best quality food to the most people. It’s a relatively simple concept making a BIG difference.

HOW CAN MY DONATION MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Food insecure Mississippians are neighbors and friends who need sustenance to get back on their feet. Please know that every missed meal matters, and dollars are what make the difference! Extra Table can only provide as much food as we have financial ability to purchase. For every dollar donated to Extra Table in 2020, 5.9 healthy meals can be distributed. WOW…donate today to provide an “extra table” of healthy, nutritious food to hungry Mississippians.