Atlantic City, New Jersey (January 12, 2014) – “Let Us Eat, Please” and the Community FoodBank of New Jersey will host a Captain’s Table Reception at the Progressive Insurance Atlantic City Boat Show on Thursday, February 5 from 5 pm to 8 pm, being held at the Atlantic City Convention Center. The VIP reception will offer tasty dishes from more than a dozen of the area’s top chefs, along with an elaborate array of desserts, drinks, and music. Guests will dine on menu items from South Jersey’s most acclaimed restaurants, sip spirits and enjoy the live entertainment, all while touring the boats, yachts and other watercrafts at the exhibit.
This fundraising event will benefit the 22,000 schoolchildren in Atlantic County who depend on free or reduced-price meals in school and are left without food when school is not is session. The ‘Let Us Eat, Please’ program started when Jim Cooper, a retired attorney and founding partner of the firm, now known as Cooper Levenson, learned from his daughter that her students sometimes go to bed hungry during the summer because they don’t have the benefit of free or reduced-price meals at school during summer break. Cooper found this unacceptable and decided to do something about it. Starting with just one school district three years ago, the ‘Let Us Eat, Please’ program expanded to five school districts this year. Every two weeks over the course of the summer, families, identified by the school as needing assistance, receive a 30 pound box of groceries, valued at more than $40, at no cost to them. It’s made possible by the dedication of Jim and his many friends and supporters, including the new ‘Let Us Eat, Please’ Chairman of the Board, Ken Calemmo of Cooper Levenson. Calemmo conceived and is now spearheading this first gala fundraiser at the Atlantic City Boat Show to raise money to ensure our local students don’t go hungry when school is not in session.
Bringing food, help and hope, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey has been fighting hunger and poverty for over 30 years through feeding programs, employment training, nutrition education, and food distribution. More than 40 million pounds of food and groceries is distributed annually to nearly 1,200 partner charities in 18 of New Jersey’s 21 counties. These charities include emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, temporary shelters, and programs for seniors and children in need including, Let Us Eat, Please. Fulfilling its mission to fight hunger and to engage all sectors of society in that effort, the FoodBank provides food to help feed almost 1 million hungry people throughout New Jersey each year.
Tickets to the Captain’s Table Reception cost $125 per person. The event is open to the public. For more information about tickets or sponsorships, please contact Evelyn Benton at 609-383-8843.
