With the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Extra Table – a Hattiesburg nonprofit organization that works with a variety of food distributors and brokers to provide nutritious meals to food pantries around Mississippi – has scrapped its calendar of events for 2020 and replaced them with the Tackle Hunger Giving Challenge, a football-related fundraising competition designed to ensure Mississippians have food throughout the fall and into 2021.
The launch of the virtual fundraiser, which will feature various initiatives during the next two months, was announced Oct. 1 during a news conference at the University of Southern Mississippi.
“It’s something that we hoped to do four or five years ago, and finally this year, it came together,” Extra Table founder Robert St. John said. “People are very aware of hunger problems around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but people in this condition are just as hungry in July and September and October as they are in November and December.
“We raised a good bit of money over this last quarter, but we’re going to stretch that out to where these agencies that we serve don’t run out of food in June or July, when people are just as hungry then.”
During the Tackle Hunger Giving Challenge, which will end Thanksgiving weekend, participants can take place in a variety of events, including the The Yolks On You social media challenge. The Yolks On You, which is similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, challenges individuals to donate to Extra Table and crack an egg on their head after nominating three people to do the same on camera.
Participants are asked to upload their video to social media and tag Extra Table in their posts.
“Get ready for that,” said Rhonda Hayden, director of development at Extra Table. “We’re going to need lots of people to do videos with their friends and family, and post it on Facebook and tag Extra Table.”
There’s also Helmets for Hunger, in which eight famous Mississippi artists will decorate helmets for an upcoming silent auction, and a Text to Give Campaign that will allow participants to donate on the Tackle Hunger website. Every dollar donated will count toward the participant’s favorite college football team in Mississippi.
Another initiative is Real Men Tackle Hunger, in which a group of 25 professional men across the state will conduct their own fundraising for Extra Table.
“That will take place on social media platforms and individual letters to their friends and family,” Hayden said. “As a part of this distinguished group of community leaders, the Real Men Tackling Hunger are not only raising funds for Extra Table’s statewide feeding efforts, but raising awareness of food insecurity in our state.”
Extra Table also will work with Stokes Distributing and Coca-Cola to set up tear sheets for $1 at convenience stores, grocery stores and other businesses statewide. The organizations will donate a small percentage of sales from Coca-Cola case products that are bought during October and November. The tear sheets will be in the shape of a football and feature Extra Table’s logo, and purchasers will be asked to write their name on the football for display in the store.
“We chose the price point of one dollar, since one dollar provides 5.9 healthy meals,” Hayden said. “So no matter how small your donation to Extra Table may be, it will feed our hungry neighbors in Mississippi and make a positive impact on the fight against hunger.”
Anyone interested in taking part in the Tackle Hunger Giving challenge can visit www.extratable.org or visit any of the organization’s social media platforms.
“We are looking to make this an annual event,” Hayden said. “I think the partners that we have in place for this first year are really rooting for us to take this on an annual basis.”
Fifteen college athletic programs across the state – including Southern Miss, Mississippi State University and Ole Miss – will challenge fans, staff, faculty, alumni and students to raise money during the Tackle Hunger Giving Challenge. A grand trophy will be given to the fanbase that raises the most funds.
“It started out as kind of a rivalry thing between Mississippi State and Ole Miss, and then other people brought USM in,” St. John said. “Then others kind of heard about it and started hopping on the bandwagon, so now we have 15 college athletic programs that are going to join in. It’s a good competition for a great cause.”
The First – A National Banking Association will serve as the title sponsor for the fundraiser, while the Mapp Family Foundation will serve as the match sponsor.
“Of course, we’re headquartered here, and as we’ve grown to Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia, we definitely realized Hattiesburg is home, and even the state of Mississippi is home,” said Jerome Brown, executive vice president at The First – A National Banking Association. “So us taking care of home is always important.
“When we think about tackling hunger and combining it with football, it’s just a win-win for everyone. We’re privileged to be a part of this.”
