Organization fighting food insecurity launches in Raleigh

Now Serving, an organization connecting chefs with organizations addressing hunger, has launched in Raleigh.

• The organization's goal is to provide new business for the struggling restaurant industry and high-quality meals for nonprofits. It's the brainchild of another local organization, The Sunday Supper.

Why it matters: One in eight people in North Carolina are facing hunger, according to Feeding America.

• Now Serving has already helped deliver more than 18,000 meals to local organizations in a pilot program, its executive director, Greg Lowenhagen, told Axios.

How it works: Now Serving acts as the logistical engine for connecting local organizations with high-quality food. If the Women's Center needs meals on Tuesday and Thursday, for instance, Now Serving connects them with a restaurant or catering service and transports all of the food to them, Lowenhagen said.

• So far, it's working with four community-based organizations: Meals on Wheels of Wake County, New Bethel Food Pantry, The Women's Center and Brentwood Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County.
• It's partnered with three kitchens to make those meals: PoshNosh Catering, HUBB Kitchens and Ladyfingers.

On Sept. 25, it will host its first "Sunday Supper" at St. Roch Fine Oysters with chef Sunny Gerhart and Ricky Moore to raise money for the program. You can reserve a table on RESY for $75/person.

• Raleigh restaurants like Mandolin and Hummingbird will also begin donating proceeds from certain menu items to Now Serving.

What they're saying: "It's wonderful for both sides," Lowenhagen said. "The restaurant gets a consistent regular catering order whether we pay them to make that food or in conjunction with the community-based organization. In turn that [organization] is now getting restaurant-quality meals."