Extra Table lends a helping hand

Extra Table is providing healthy and nutritious food to battle hunger in Mississippi.

Nearly 200,000 children on average in the state of Mississippi don’t have enough to eat, and that was before the pandemic shut down schools, taking away the two meals a day those children depend on while at school. 

To help those children, Whitney Gladden, Mrs. Mississippi America 2020, has partnered with Extra Table to bring the BOX PROJECT to life to help out even more kids in need. 

Gladden, a Madison native, was crowned Mrs. Mississippi America in June and will compete for the title of Mrs. America in Las Vegas in January 2021.

Extra Table is a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 by Robert St. John of Hattiesburg, who realized over the years that Mississippi had a major hunger and obesity problem. 

He formed Extra Table, and the organization strictly fundraises to buy healthy, nutritious food for kids. 

“So many children have been out of school or attending school on-and-off since the beginning of the pandemic,” Gladden said. “When COVID started, my children and I hit the ground running making lunches for these kids because they have nothing to eat. By partnering with Extra Table, we can reach more families much faster at a time they need it the most.”

Gladden will be taking boxes and a list of food items that are needed to local businesses over the next week to ask them to take part in filling those boxes with food that isn’t processed, doesn’t have high fat, is expired, or foods filled with sugar. 

Food items can include options that are healthier, such as instant oatmeal, peanut butter, and pasta sauce. It takes approximately $10 to $15 to fill one of these boxes. 

Gladden feels that this is such an easy thing for people to do to help others during the holiday season, especially this year since so many people have lost their jobs at a very fast rate.

She’s been volunteering with Extra Table for three years, but this is her first year of taking the boxes to local businesses. 

Being a mom of two, she and her husband Lee have always tried to teach the value of helping others. 

“People can be assured that their donations to the BOX PROJECT are helping their community,” she said. 

Executive director of Extra Table, Martha Allen, said the BOX PROJECT is Extra Table’s first step into the canned food drive area. 

She said Extra Table is educating people on what items aren needed, what to discuss with families about healthier food choices, and creating memorable experiences with the families being helped out in their times of need. 

After working with Extra Table for two and half years, Allen feels that working for a nonprofit and helping her community is impactful and important to her. COVID has made things more difficult and challenging for the nonprofit, but they’ve stayed afloat and their distribution has grown astronomically. 

“We partnered with Borden Dairy and delivered thousands and thousands of gallons of milk to people in need. We delivered more milk in six months than the total amount of food we delivered to people in 2019,” she said. “It shows the extreme growth our footprint has had.”

Allen said the biggest challenge of running the nonprofit during the pandemic is keeping everyone safe and finding volunteers. 

“Despite the challenges, we’ve been doing great,” she said. “Extra Table is the most efficient and effective way to get the best food to Mississippians. I encourage people to look into how we operate and get on board with us.” 

To learn more about Extra Table, call 601-447-4667, or visit www.extratable.org.