Each year, Donna Vecere plays a pivotal role in the success of Captain’s Table, the signature fundraising event for Let Us Eat – Please.
“Overall, it makes for a night of great fun. It’s a very popular event,” she said with pride.
Let Us Eat – Please is a charitable project of the Atlantic City law firm Cooper Levenson, where Donna serves as Marketing Director. Cooper Levenson founding partner Jim Cooper started the initiative almost 20 years ago to help feed kids in need over the summer, when they lose access to free school meals.
“He learned from his daughter, who was a schoolteacher in New Jersey, that she often saw children who were hungry in the classroom,” Donna explained. “He decided to start a small charity and do what he could on the local level.”
Jim started by providing summer food to students at just one school district through generous donations from friends. Today, Let Us Eat – Please has six participating districts and primarily raises money through Captain’s Table, which it cohosts with CFBNJ.
“It’s a great partnership,” Donna said. “We’ve teamed up. We can raise funds jointly with the FoodBank and also work with them to make our deliveries.”
Now in its tenth year, Captain’s Table takes place on the floor of the Atlantic City Boat Show, bringing local chefs, breweries, restaurants, and more together for a food- and fun-filled evening. All of the food is generously donated by the participating businesses, and students from local culinary schools even get to assist for some hands-on experience.
Nearly 600 people attend each year, and Donna is instrumental in bringing everything together, from securing the space and sponsors to coordinating food and entertainment – all for a great cause.
Thanks to the critical support of event attendees, Let Us Eat – Please distributes both nonperishable staples and fresh produce to more than 800 families over the summer, with CFBNJ as its main provider of food.
“Without the FoodBank, we couldn’t make it happen,” Donna said.
She credits Let Us Eat – Please and CFBNJ with giving her a new perspective on food insecurity and its prevalence, especially in South Jersey.
“The FoodBank has given me an education on the struggles that more people than I ever imagined face on a daily basis,” Donna shared. “I still find that, as I tell people about Let Us Eat – Please, about the FoodBank, and about our work, they are shocked. My relationship with CFBNJ has really opened my eyes, so I even see our neighborhood in a different way.”
Donna envisions a future in which food insecurity ceases to be a topic of conversation altogether.
“I would like to see more people open their eyes to food insecurity and take more active roles in helping to ease the situation,” she said.