Community Plates Hosts Free Screening of "A Place at the Table" Nov. 12th CTbites Team November 06, 2013 Community Plates is Co-hosting a free screening of A Place at the Table on November 12th to raise awareness and inspire volunteers to help eradicate hunger. On Tuesday, November 12th, Community Plates will invite the public to a complimentary viewing of the documentary A Place at the Table. Community Plates has partnered with emergency assistance agency Person-to-Person to educate the audience about the widespread hunger crisis facing America and to encourage attendees to get involved in solving the problem through volunteerism. Doors open at 6:30 and the film begins at 7:00 pm. A Place at the Table tells the powerful stories of three Americans who face hunger on a daily basis, maintaining their dignity even as they struggle just to eat. The film has received much acclaim and shed light on a crisis that impacts 50 million Americans, including nearly 100,000 in Connecticut, one of the wealthiest states in the nation. “Community Plates’ mission is to end food insecurity in America, but to achieve this we need everyone to understand the breadth of the problem,” said Kevin Mullins, executive director and co-founder of Community Plates. “A Place at the Table offers an informative and compelling look that will hopefully inspire people to get involved to end hunger in America.” With 40 percent of America’s food supply going to waste, Community Plates stresses that food insecurity is a matter of logistics, not a lack of food. The organization has created a volunteer-driven, technology-fueled method for transferring surplus food to those in need. Volunteer food runners collect food donations from area restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores and the like and deliver the items directly to local food pantries and soup kitchens. The direct transfer method enables donations to include fresh foods, which greatly enhances the nutritional value of available food. Person-to-Person is one of the agencies benefiting from the efforts of Community Plates volunteers. More than $60,000 of donated food was provided to Person-to-Person in the first two years of the partnership, and another $70,000 is expected to be rescued in 2013, according to P2P Executive Director Ceci Maher. The two organizations teamed up to present A Place at the Table. Stepping Stones Museum for Children is donating the space for the evening and funding has been provided by a grant from the Fairfield County Community Foundation. The event is free and refreshments will be served. About Community Plates Community Plates is committed to ending food insecurity in America. Recognizing the problem as a matter of logistics, not a lack of food, the organization established a volunteer-driven, technology fueled method for transferring surplus food to those in need. The simple process includes food donors (e.g., grocery stores, restaurants, caterers, bakeries and other food-service establishments), food runners (individuals who pick-up and deliver donated food) and receiving agencies (e.g., soup kitchens, pantries, etc.). Scheduling is made easy with the web and smartphone enabled Community Plates’ GoRescue technology powered by WhenToManage, which received the 2013 Computerworld Honors Program 21st Century Achievement Award for human services. Since Community Plates was founded in 2011, more than 700 volunteers have rescued food that equates to two-million meals. Launched and headquartered in Fairfield County, CT, Community Plates also operates in New Haven, CT, Albuquerque, NM and Columbus, OH with plans to expand to four more markets in 2014. For more information or to get involved visit: http://communityplates.org.
