Extra Table kicks off 2026 March of Mayors food drive for Coast region

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) – Extra Table launched the 2026 March of the Mayors with a press conference on Friday, beginning a statewide food drive led by Mississippi mayors and municipalities.

March of the Mayors is a four-week food drive that challenges cities to collect specific high-quality, non-perishable food items to support their local food pantries. While traditional food drives take different types of food, the March of Mayors assigns each city one designated food item to collect.

Cities will collect food between January 26 and March 5. Following the collection period, food gathered by each city will be transported to the regional food box packing event at the Lyman Community Center in Gulfport. There, volunteers will build food boxes through an assembly-line process. Those boxes will then be distributed equally among Extra Table’s Gulf Coast partner pantries, providing nutritious, shelf-stable food to families across the region.

The Coast cities participating in the 2026 March of the Mayors, along with their designated collection items, include:

Bay St. Louis (Dried beans-1 lb. bag)Biloxi (Dried beans-1 lb. bag)D’Iberville (Spaghetti Noodles)Diamondhead (Canned Soup)Gautier (Granola Bars)Gulfport (Peanut Butter-16 oz. jars)Long Beach (Canned green beans)Moss Point (Canned fruit)Ocean Springs (Canned fruit)Pascagoula (Canned tuna)Pass Christian (Canned Corn)Waveland (Rice-1 lb. bag)Picayune (Rice-1 lb. bag)Wiggins (Rice-1 lb. bag)

Ingalls Shipbuilding is the regional sponsor for the Coast March of the Mayors, supporting a coordinated effort to fight hunger across coastal communities.

“March of the Mayors is one of the most powerful examples of what happens when cities unite to care for their neighbors,” Executive Director of Extra Table Martha Allen Price said. “At a time when food pantries are seeing record demand, the leadership of our mayors and the support of partners like Ingalls Shipbuilding ensure that families across the Coast will receive nutritious food when they need it most. Let the good times and the food roll!”

People are encouraged to support March of the Mayors by donating food, volunteering, or donating financially. 100% of financial donations to Extra Table go directly toward food purchasing, with $1.00 providing 4 nutritious meals for Mississippians.

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