TABLE serves the children of Chapel Hill and Carrboro by providing emergency food aid to those in need. The Program Director, Laura Dille, became involved at TABLE while she was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill after going on an Alternative Break trip focused on hunger relief. She says she enjoys working at TABLE because of the good people that make up the organization. One in three elementary school children qualify for the National Lunch Program in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system, which means they would likely not be able to afford a meal otherwise.
TABLE has Weekend Meal Backpack and Summer TABLE programs that provide healthy food to these children, and the majority of TABLE’s funding comes from local individuals. Their Snack Chef program also aims to help kids learn how to prepare healthy snacks, and Camp TABLE teaches local middle and high-school students about food insecurity. TABLE has grown from serving 220 to over 400 kids over the past year; however, even that expansion does not cover the 2500 estimated children in need in our area.
Bonner leaders are working with TABLE to increase their capacity by planning food-raisers in local neighborhoods, creating “Food For Thought” worksheets for the kids, and helping with grant writing. TABLE hopes to serve 500 kids per week by the end of 2015 and start a field trip program to teach kids about local food sources in the future.
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