Asbury Park Dinner Table Launches
Nonprofit Aims To Assist Restaurants & Churches Combat Food Insecurity Created By Covid 19
In an attempt to maneuver the COVID-19 threat, a group of local Asbury Park business leaders and residents have come together to launch Asbury Park Dinner Table [APDT].
According to a news statement released Tuesday evening, the pandemic has not only affected the local restaurant industry but also sparked an uptick in food insecurity across the community.
“Our hard-working local restaurant owners and their employees do more than just make food. They are also major employers in town and the livelihood of many of our neighbors,” said Kathy Kelly, co-chair of the Asbury Park Business Committee and Paranormal Books & Curiosities owner.
With many local families already dealing with food insecurity now needing to provide extra meals to kids home from school and college closures, as well as those in various industries who have lost their jobs, the need for dinner meals is critical, the news statement said.
“Our love of Asbury Park is marrow-deep,” said co-founder Giuseppe Grillo. “APDT was created to do something positive in the midst of this crisis – in this case, support our restaurants and feed dinner to people in need.”
The initiative is simple, organizers said: supporters can donate online to AP Dinner Table, who will then pay local restaurants to make specially-packaged dinner meals and deliver them to locations for food-insecure families to ‘grab and go.’
“Thirty dollars will fund restaurants to produce about three dinner meals for people in need,” said APDT co-founder Julie Andreola. “Locals helping locals feed locals – it’s what Asbury Park is all about.”
APDT is positioned to begin serving daily dinner meals Wednesday, March 18th from
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm but those operating hours may change, organizers said.
The distribution points are currently at Second Baptist Church, located at 124 Atkins Avenue; St.
Stephen’s AME Zion Church, located at 1001 Springwood Avenue; and United Fellowship Baptist Church, located at 603 3rd Avenue.
“It is vital that in the time of need, we band together to ‘be our brothers/sisters keeper,” said Second Baptist Pastor Rev. Semaj Vanzant. “I am so glad church and community could join together to make sure families are fed in this time of crisis.”
To donate or for more information, visit their Facebook page or the PayPal donation page via paypal.me/apdinnertable.
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