Extra Table Feeds announces winners

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — After 16 years of feeding hungry Mississippians, Extra Table FEEDS is turning the spotlight on some of the people who have helped make that work possible.

Extra Table FEEDS has announced the winners of its inaugural Good On The Go Awards, a new statewide recognition program honoring the volunteers, businesses, food pantries, elected officials, young people, advocates and community partners who have gone above and beyond in the fight against hunger.

For the first time in the organization’s 16-year history, Extra Table FEEDS opened nominations for nine award categories. Nominations were accepted for four weeks before a selection committee reviewed the submissions and selected the inaugural class of honorees.

And choosing the winners was not easy. In fact, Extra Table FEEDS ultimately decided to recognize multiple winners in several categories this first year.

“Sixteen years is a long time to do this work, and there are so many people who have carried Extra Table FEEDS through both good times and the really hard times,” said Martha Allen Price, Executive Director of Extra Table FEEDS. “When our selection committee started going through the nominations, it became clear that in some categories, choosing just one winner didn’t tell the whole story. There were people and organizations whose impact simply deserved to be recognized.”

The result is an inaugural class of Good On The Go Award winners representing communities across Mississippi and nearly every way someone can help fight hunger.

There is an award for the kid who grew up volunteering. There is one for the board member who answered the phone through years of challenges and growth. There are awards for the food pantry leaders doing the work every day, businesses that provide the manpower and resources to make big projects happen, elected officials who answer the call during emergencies, media partners who carry Extra Table FEEDS’ message across the airwaves, and organizations that turn service into action.

There is even an award for an EGGcellent event. The names are playful. The impact behind them is serious. The inaugural awards include the UnBEETable Award, Lettuce Celebrate Award, Orange We Grateful for You Award, EGGcellent Event Award, What a Pear Award, RADish Award, Spreading the Jam Award, Cream of the Crop Award and Everyday I’m BRUSSELing Award.

A tenth honor, the Founder’s Award, was not open for nominations and was personally by the Extra Table FEEDS Founder, Robert St. John, to recognize extraordinary leadership and longstanding impact on Extra Table FEEDS and its mission.

The awards are part of Extra Table FEEDS’ Good On The Go Tour, which takes the celebration directly to the winners rather than asking the winners to come to an awards ceremony.

“We spend our lives asking people to show up for Extra Table FEEDS,” Price said. “For Good On The Go, we wanted to flip that around. We wanted to get in the car, go to their communities, walk into their businesses, schools, offices and food pantries and say, ‘Today, we showed up for you!’”

The inaugural honorees represent the network of relationships that has allowed Extra Table FEEDS to grow from a small idea founded in 2009 into a statewide hunger-relief organization serving communities across Mississippi every month.

Extra Table FEEDS purchases new, nutritious, shelf-stable food and delivers it directly to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the state at no cost to those organizations. Extra Table FEEDS does not accept government funding, making private donors, corporate partners, volunteers and community relationships essential to carrying out its mission.

“We absolutely could not do what we do without our donors, partners and friends,” Price said. “And we especially could not do it without champions like these. These winners represent what happens when people decide that feeding their neighbors matters — and then keep showing up to do something about it.”

The Good On The Go Awards will become an annual opportunity for Extra Table FEEDS to recognize the Mississippians who help move its mission forward.

About Extra Table:
Extra Table FEEDS was founded by chef and restaurateur Robert St. John in 2009. We are a statewide nonprofit food bank, receiving ZERO federal funds. We are dedicated to fighting food insecurity by fundraising to provide nutritious, shelf-stable food to our pantry and soup kitchen partners across the state. Celebrating our 16th year, Extra Table FEEDS continues to deliver on our promise: every plate tells the story of hope, nourishment, and community. For more information on Extra Table, visit extratable.org.