ATLANTA — Lemons into lemonade: Delta Air Lines said because there are so few people flying, its perishable and non-perishable food is not being eaten.
So, the Atlanta-based airline will be donating that uneaten food from its airplanes and Sky Club to charities in Georgia and across the world.
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In a news release, Delta said it is sending 200,000 pounds of food to hospitals, community food banks and other organizations around the world to support people in need “as well as those working tirelessly on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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Delta is working with Feeding America to distribute the food.
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Delta is also working to help long-term food service partners including Linton Hopkins, Newrest and Sodexo with resources they need to serve their communities.
Here are some of the communities where Delta's food donation efforts are making a difference.
- So far in 2020, Delta has donated over 200,000 pounds of perishable food items from warehouses to Feeding America partner agencies across the U.S. and other charities, including Georgia Food & Resource Center and Missouri's Carthage Crisis Center.
- Regional managers are working with caterers to donate food where needed. In Nice, France, Delta partnered with local caterer Newrest to donate pre-packaged snacks to hospitals and healthcare workers. Additionally, food and coffee were donated to MIR, an organization distributing free meals and providing shelter to the homeless and human trafficking survivors. Managers in New York are also doing their part by providing food donations to hospitals in their region.
- In Philadelphia, Delta partnered with SodexoMAGIC to donate over 500 pounds of food from the Delta Sky Club at the airport to a local Feeding America food bank.
- Delta Sky Clubs around the U.S. including those in Los Angeles and at New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports have activated programs similar to the one in Philadelphia, providing donations to first responders, local charities and churches.
- Delta is working with Linton Hopkins – an award-winning Atlanta chef and longtime Delta partner – to provide trays and packaging supplies to support food distribution with initiatives like ATLFAMILYMEAL, which delivers meals to Atlanta hospitality workers. Hopkins' team is delivering over 5,000 meals per week, including to first responders at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital.
- Delta employees are caring for their colleagues by sending fresh Flight Fuel boxed meals to Reservations and Customer Care centers to support the teams responding to unprecedented numbers of customers needing to make changes to their flights.
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