Share the Table, a food ministry that serves Pender and Onslow county residents with three programs of emergency food assistance, has received a $35,000 grant from The Duke Endowment.

The grant will be used to help underwrite the organization's operating costs, according to a news release from Share the Table.

"In less than two years, Share the Table's programs have grown from serving 47 households to over 550 households each month," the release stated.

"These funds will allow us to continue to help the growing number of people who must make that critical choice between food and other basic family needs," executive director Dawn Ellis said in the release.

Based in Charlotte and established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is a private foundation whose focus is to strengthen communities in North and South Carolina by "nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits," according to the release. It has distributed more than $3 billion in grants since its founding.