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From food drives to 5ks, there is an event for you!
Throughout the year, the Extra Table team hosts events across the state to raise funds and awareness.
We have fun while remaining mission-focused.
Empty bowls
Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger. The 7th Annual Extra Table Empty Bowls fundraiser will be held at Delta Arts Alliance, 104 S. Court Street in Cleveland, Mississippi, on Thursday, October 23rd, from 10:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Ticketed patrons receive a delicious meal of soup, bread, dessert and a drink. Patrons also take home a one-of-a-kind handcrafted bowl by a Delta State University ceramic student or a Delta potter as a reminder of those hungry in our communities whose bowls are empty.
Funds raised from this event will provide food to Delta-area food pantries and soup kitchens, including Caring Hands (Itta Bena), Clarksdale Care Station, Hearty Helpings Food Pantry (Greenville), Lexington Food Pantry, Helping Hands (Belzoni), Helping Hands (Cleveland), Robert Neil Food Pantry (Charleston), St. Vincent De Paul (Greenville), Tutwiler Community Education Center, and the Statesman’s Shelf (on the campus of Delta State University).
March of the mayors
2026 DATES
Collection starts: January 20
Box Packing Week: March 2-6
5 DAYS, 5 REGIONS, AND
FIFTY+ MAYORS
One of Extra Table’s premiere annual programs is March of the Mayors. Driven by the mayors of more than 50 cities across Mississippi, March of the Mayors is a statewide canned food drive. Broken into five regions (The Coast, the Pine Belt, the Jackson Metro area, the Mississippi Delta, and North Mississippi area), each participating city will begin collecting a particular food item on January 21, 2025, and collection runs through February 21. The following week, Extra Table will host five food-box packing parties in five cities.
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Cleveland: February 24
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Tupelo: February 25
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Jackson: February 26
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Hattiesburg: February 27
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Gulfport: February 28
March of the Mayors is a fun way to help engage the local community while fighting hunger in our own backyards. It’s a canned food drive, a fundraiser and ‘Mississippi’s Largest Food Box Packing Party’ complete with Moon Pies, Mardi Gras beads, hundreds of volunteers and a jazzy second line with a mission to feed hungry Mississippians! At the end of each regional food box packing party, food collected and packed is picked up by the local food pantries of each participating city.
MOON PIES, MARDI GRAS BEADS, AND VOLUNTEERS ALL ROLLED INTO ONE JAZZY SECOND LINE WITH A MISSION TO FEED HUNGRY MISSISSIPPIANS!
HOliday food goals
In an effort to bring more food to Mississippi tables this Thanksgiving, let's “Give ‘Em A Bird, and holiday meals, too!”
This fundraising program begins with the Official Mississippi Turkey Pardoning at The Governor’s Mansion and will end with 9,000+ chickens on the tables of hungry families this holiday season.
bourbon festival
SAVE THE DATE:
OCTOBER 29, 2026
Mississippi Museum of arT
The Bourbon Festival is a one-night event. General admission is from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., and VIP admission begins at 5:30 p.m.
The VIP tasting showcases an incredible flight of bourbons selected by Jamie Farris, owner of Lincoln Road Package Store.
All ticket holders will enjoy an evening of big entertainment with a vast array of bourbons. Jamie and the Lincoln Road Package team will present over 125 bourbons for tasting and a cocktail competition featuring Old Soul bourbon poured by some of the area’s favorite bartenders.
Plan on staying for a while. Artist Adam Trest will be painting live. Don’t miss your chance to bid on his unique creation, which will be auctioned off to the highest bidder at the night's end! There will be music, stilt walkers, jugglers, socializing, and a good time for all.
farm to fork:
run & ride
DETAILS ANNOUNCED
NOVEMBER 1, 2026.
A Voice for the table
What a great event this was!
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS.
A Voice for the Table is a one-of-a-kind evening of food and song hosted by Extra Table and founder Robert St. John in celebration of 15 years of feeding hungry Mississippians. The elegant dinner, featuring signature dishes from RSJ’s award-winning restaurants, will be followed by an intimate performance by Italian opera tenor Maurizio Marchini, known worldwide for serenading his neighbors from a balcony in Florence during the pandemic. Guests will enjoy Italian wines, beautiful music, and unforgettable hospitality—all while supporting Extra Table’s mission to fight hunger across the state. It’s a night where generosity and artistry take center stage.
🗓️ Sunday, September 21
📍 Hattiesburg Train Depot - 308 Newman St, Hattiesburg
⏰ 5:00 – 6:00 PM Cocktail Hour featuring Italian wines
🍽️ 6:00 PM Dinner
Catering by Robert St. John’s Restaurants
🎶 6:30 PM Italian Opera Tenor Maurizio Marchini performance
👔 Dress: Business
🎟️ Plus: A raffle to win a trip to Italy with Robert St. John!
Our 15th anniversary
December 09, 2024, marks fifteen years since our first truckload of food was delivered to Edwards Street Fellowship Center.
In 2009, Restaurateur Robert St. John received a call from the Edwards Street Fellowship Center in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Simply put, they had run out of food. Being a 30-year restaurant industry veteran, he figured the fastest, easiest way to get food to the pantry would be to call his Sysco sales representative, place an order, and have the truck drop the order at the agency’s doorstep the next day... and that's what he did. The food made it to the pantry just in time to ensure the clients - depending on Edwards Street to feed their families - got the food they so desperately needed.
Afterward, Robert wondered if other agencies throughout Mississippi were having similar problems. He found a host of organizations throughout the state with the same need and decided to approach Sysco to propose a question: “What if every business and home had an extra table where they could feed those in need? What would that look like?”
Sysco loved the idea, and Extra Table was born.
