CIT Group Inc. announced it has made a donation to provide enough fresh food for 100,000 meals to Table to Table, a community-based food rescue program that redistributes would-be wasted food to those in need. The donation addresses food insecurity in the Northern New Jersey-area, a community need identified by a CIT direct bank customer as part of the company's Acts of Caring initiative.
Table to Table collects perishable food that would otherwise be wasted from supermarkets, food distributors, restaurants and commercial kitchens, and delivers it to more than 250 organizations serving the hungry across Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties. Large groups of individuals and struggling families also receive distributions of produce and other fresh food through a network of fresh produce markets and distribution hubs throughout Newark and in Paterson.
Table to Table is the most cost-effective hunger relief program in New Jersey, and in 2019, the organization rescued enough food to distribute 26 million meals.
"Hunger and food insecurity are significant problems facing New Jersey, with 1 in 8 households struggling to find enough food for the week," said Ilene Isaacs, Table to Table's Executive Director. "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."
"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," said Steve Solk, President, Consumer Banking at CIT. "We're proud to support causes that truly make a difference in our communities and are personally meaningful to our customers and our team."
CIT Acts of Caring
As part of CIT's Acts of Caring program, the company invited customers to nominate a need in their hometown and share how the company could support those efforts on their behalf. Identified by a customer of CIT's direct bank, Table to Table is one of ten projects nationwide that was selected to receive a donation from CIT this summer.
The customer program follows a month-long social good project where CIT employees completed more than 3,000 Acts of Caring and dedicated nearly 5,000 hours in support of causes such as COVID-19 relief, addressing food insecurity, improving the environment and advancing social and economic justice.
Learn more about CIT's Acts of Caring initiative.