11/05/2025
In the words of Lita:
Ask and you will receive…shout out to the Gant-Gilbert Arts Collective for being the first to answer the call.
My goal for this launch is simple and urgent:
to support AT LEAST 20 families who are SNAP recipients with pantry staples and grocery gift cards.
We are collecting both food donations and monetary donations — and 100% of the funds raised will go directly toward purchasing gift cards from
ShopRite and Whole Foods.
All food donations and physical gift cards can be dropped off at:
Gant Gilbert Arts Collective
505 Clinton Avenue, Newark, NJ 11 am - 7 pm
Monetary donations can be sent to the dedicated link that will be provided. Because as the saying goes:
When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence.
Pots, Pans & Prose originally began as a private gathering where every last Sunday of the month I cooked for my artist friends, and we came together simply to eat, talk, laugh, and fellowship outside of performance spaces.
No mic. No stage. Just nourishment and genuine connection.
Food has always been my love language. It is my life, my career, and my purpose. And when this SNAP pause hit our community, I knew in my spirit I could not sit still. I needed to use what I naturally do (cooking, gathering, creating space) to make a tangible difference.
So Pots, Pans & Prose is evolving from a personal ritual of love and artistry into a community act of care.
And with the partnership and support of Gant Gilbert Arts Collective, this offering is now becoming a platform to turn creativity into access, to feed families, to soften the blow of this moment, and to nourish Newark with intention.
This isn’t just an event.
This is us extending the table
…together.
~Chef Lita Coley-Cox
