Local Food Rescue Program to Get Free Ad, PR Services

A local nonprofit group that specializes in delivering food to those who need it most is among seven nonprofit groups to receive free marketing, advertising and PR services for a year from a group known for its own charitable giving.

Table to Table of Fort Lee, a community-based food rescue program that collects prepared and perishable food that would otherwise be wasted and delivers it to organizations that serve the hungry in Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Passaic counties, received the award announced last week by the Marcus Group – a boutique agency specializing in advertising, crisis communications and public relations.

The Marcus Group of Little Falls conceived its “Forty for Goodness Sake” project as a way to celebrate the agency’s 40th anniversary and highlight its history of charitable giving.

 “The Marcus Group has traditionally had a history of charitable giving and donating time and services to nonprofit organizations,” said Marcus Group executive Scott Wasserman. “The ‘Forty for Goodness Sake’ is something we recently undertook as part of our 40th anniversary. We were going to chose one nonprofit to receive our services for a year, and due to the overwhelming response, the agency decided to select additional nonprofits to receive certain project work in terms of marketing projects.”

Wasserman said choosing this year’s recipients was a difficult decision, with over 130 nonprofits submitting applications, “and we just looked at who we could help most and what services they could most benefit by.”

The sheer number of submissions suggested just how many organizations could benefit from specific marketing project work, and therefore selected six additional groups to help.

He said Table to Table, which delivered enough food for more than 6,000,000 meals in 2009 and delivers the food free of charge to more than 50 agencies throughout the area, including elder care facilities, drug rehab centers, homeless shelters, homes for victims of domestic violence, HIV day centers and pantries serving the working poor, can use help with marketing consultation and new marketing ideas on how best to take their services and grow their exposure. That help is likely to include consultation and training, and technical assistance over the next year on a one-on-one basis.

“Table to Table has asked for some new marketing campaign ideas,” Wasserman said. “In other instances, we might be doing work on their website, social media, things like that.”

After what Wasserman called a rigorous review and consideration process, The Marcus Group selected the following nonprofits, in addition to Table to Table, to receive their services:

• Little Kids Rock (Cedar Grove, NJ)
• 2^nd Floor Youth Helpline (Hazlet, NJ)
• American Red Cross of Northern New Jersey (Fairfield, NJ);
• Cooperative Housing (Somerville, NJ);
• Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City;
• Waves of Health (Livingston, NJ)

“We like to give back and support charities,” said Alan Marcus, president and CEO in a press release announcing the award. “We’re going to treat these charities as we would any other client – and hopefully, we’ll help them grow.”

Wasserman said company officials value the free year of service at well over $100,000 based on the most recent experience with Gilda’s Club Northern New Jersey, a nonprofit cancer support organization The Marcus Group will continue to help.

To vie for its services, the agency invited New Jersey and New York metropolitan area nonprofits to describe how a successful communications campaign could benefit the organization and community. Qualified candidates had to be a 501(c)(3) organization from the New Jersey or New York metropolitan area, and have no current outside communications representation. 

Table to Table is located at 440 West St. in Fort Lee and can be reached at (201) 444-5500.