Table to Table, an Iowa City nonprofit that collects and redistributes surplus food, received 58,000 pounds of russet potatoes on Friday, the largest food donation in the organization’s 28-year history.
On March 16, approximately 10-15 volunteers from United Way of Johnson and Washington Counties and 5224Good gathered at Table to Table’s food distribution center, located at 1049 US-6 E in Iowa City, to sort the donation into manageable sized boxes.
“It was incredible,” said Anne Hlavacek, communications and development coordinator for Table to Table. “It’s the single largest donation in our history since 1996.”
A week prior to the delivery, Table to Table received an email from recent partner Farmlink, an organization that connects farm products to communities facing food insecurity. A semi truck load of potatoes from Canada needed a home, and wanted to know if Table to Table was interested.
“We were expecting 40,000 pounds, but got 58,000 pounds of potatoes,” said Nicki Ross, Table to Table’s executive director. Logistics of the delivery were handled through a partnership with Lineage Logistics, a cold food storage facility that stored a portion of the surplus food.
Volunteers sorted 18,000 pounds of potatoes into boxes and pallets from 1-3:30 p.m. Over the next two weeks, deliveries will be made to area food pantries such as North Liberty Food Pantry, Coralville Community Food Pantry, CommUnity Food Bank in Iowa City and the HACAP Food Reservoir in Hiawatha, which plans to distribute the potatoes across 17 counties.
Onions, potatoes and tomatoes are frequent requests from food pantries, said Ms. Ross, and potatoes’ long shelf life make them a popular demand.
“We’re pretty pleased with this donation,” she said.
