The Table at St. George’s is excited to highlight its continued partnership with Transurban following the award of a $3,000 grant through The Transurban Express Lanes Community Grant Program. This is Transurban’s second grant to The Table since 2019.
The Table is St. George’s market-style food pantry. Prior to the pandemic, The Table operated a physical market twice a day each Tuesday that distributed fresh produce, other perishables, as well as nonperishables to persons facing food insecurity. Since 2012, volunteers at The Table have welcomed people to this food pantry in the hope that at this Table, as at our altar table, all may come and find sustenance.
“The mission of The Table is to grow a healthier community. Access to healthy food is simply the gateway to so much more. Working alongside each other, week after week, we learn each other’s stories, share laughter, tears, prayers, and songs. The Table is where we meet God and we are transformed. We discover that when all are welcomed, our world is transformed,” said the Rev. Will Dickinson, Curate at St. George’s Episcopal Church.
Unique among local feeding programs, The Table allows patrons to pick the foods they need for their families. There is also an emphasis on fresh produce to help shoppers eat a healthy diet and manage health issues. A Table shopper leaves with 25-30 pounds of food, 60% of which is perishable such as produce, fruit, protein, and bread. In addition, many volunteers come from the shopper population to emphasize that all part of one community comprised of equals.
When the pandemic required St. George’s to suspend operation of its weekly pop-up market, The Table expanded its existing Table In The World (TITW) initiative where The Table procures and arranges for the delivery of fresh produce and eggs to populations of vulnerable persons. The Table volunteers rapidly expanded TITW to nine distribution locations, some in partnership with other organizations, to address food insecurity issues heightened by pandemic-imposed challenges, allowing more people to access fresh food in a safe manner.
TITW has dramatically expanded The Table’s reach into the community, and while more people are being served during this time, it is at a higher financial cost. Transurban’s generous grant helps The Table at St. George’s to continue TITW at its current expanded level and stabilize our feeding ministry when The Table at St. George’s reopens.
The Table is grateful for the generosity of all who support its efforts to improve the lives of people living with food insecurity. More than 90% of funding for The Table comes from awards, donations, fundraisers, and grants. Corporations and local businesses provide valuable in-kind donations.
For more information, contact Laurel Loch at 540.373.4133. To see The Table in operation, visit https://www.stgeorgesepiscopal.net/outreach-and-mission/the-table-at-st-georges/.
Thank you to all who offered 
This Advent, we wait for the birth of the Messiah: our unfailing light. We’ll seek a love that dispels the shadows of night. We’ll follow a star and trust that it shows us the way. We’ll proclaim that God has the power to make us new each day.