TASK is proud to announce that its short film, A Meal Can Change a Life, recently won honorable mention at the Trenton Film Society’s Regional Documentary Festival.

“When people talk about Trenton, they always focus on the struggle,” said Ned Kolpan, Festival Coordinator and Trenton Film Society Board member.

“TASK is representative of how people flourish here. TASK is a really great emblem of the city.”

A Meal Can Change a Life was screened at the film society’s inaugural Regional Documentary Festival at the Mill Hill Playhouse on May 18, 2024. The story follows Sharon Horne, Deb Kisela, Todd Jackson and Walter Roberts, four longtime friends of TASK who credit the compassion and kinship they experienced at the soup kitchen with helping them to beat the odds against a range of challenges including homelessness, addiction and unemployment.

After the screening, Horne joined TASK’s Director of Individual Giving Denise Barricklow and Creative Arts Specialist Frank Lettieri, Jr. — who worked together to produce, direct and edit the feature — for a Q&A alongside other filmmakers in the afternoon showcase.

“A Meal Can Change a Lifeis a profound and moving film that shows how small acts of kindness have the power to transform lives,” says Barricklow.

“One of the reasons this film is so compelling is because TASK is committed to ethical storytelling,” adds Barricklow, a practice which insists that nonprofits have a special responsibility to tell stories in a way that respects the dignity, rights and humanity of the people they serve. “At TASK, we aren’t interested in one-dimensional portrayals of ‘the homeless’ or ‘the hungry,’” she explains.

Lettieri says trust and mutual respect are cornerstones of the video’s success. “We are deeply grateful to Walter, Deb, Sharon and Todd for having the courage to be vulnerable, for trusting us and for sharing their inspiring stories, which offer hope to others in our community who are working hard to overcome similar challenges.”

Barricklow adds, “We are proud of this collaboration, which is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of the TASK community to uplift lives.”

Last year, the film received a MarCom Gold Award honoring excellence in marketing and communications.

Its inclusion at this year’s Trenton Film Festival was another special honor, as was the announcement that the film won honorable mention in the “Audience Favorite” category.