With more than 190 suites in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, there’s a lot of really good food being made during football and soccer games to feed those fans.
But what happens to the grub that isn’t eaten? Is it just thrown away?
Nope. That food is repackaged and donated to those in need of a satisfying meal.
Arthur Blank’s AMB Group, which manages the stadium, has been partnering with Second Helpings Atlanta to create a food rescue program that saves unused high-quality food from those suites. The food is repackaged and delivered to the local community.
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The first pick-up of the program happened on Aug. 27, and since then 10 more pick-ups have occurred, which has added up to 13,250 pounds of donated food. That total breaks down to 11,042 meals.
The meals delivered consist of prepared salads, boxed lunches and bakery treats.
Through Second Helpings Atlanta, meals are donated to six partner agencies: Veterans Empowerment Organization, Urban Recipe, Loaves & Fishes, the Salvation Army, True Worship, and City of Refuge. One week's donation from the stadium to a Veterans Empowerment Organization provided 10 meals for more than 100 veterans.
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Meals are also delivered to Atlanta Mission, Atlanta City Baptist Mission, Atlanta Dream Center, Our House, Hope House, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Gateway Center and St. Francis Table.
According a release from the AMB Group, 20 percent of people living in metro Atlanta are food insecure. A food insecure family of four skips 100 meals per month.
In total, Second Helpings Atlanta will rescue and deliver more than 1.25 million meals in 2017.
The program and partnership it has with the AMB Group will continue through the end of the NFL season.
For more information on how to fight hunger in metro Atlanta, visit SecondHelpingsAtlanta.org.
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