Massive amounts of uneaten food from Sunday’s Super Bowl LIV game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, is being distributed to local shelters.
Tens of thousands of people in need received high-quality meals following the Super Bowl, thanks to the efforts of Food Rescue US, an organization dedicated to reducing food waste in America, according to ESPN.
This week, volunteers with the organization rescued the stadium’s leftover food, packed it up, and shipped it to area shelters.
“It’s a full volunteer job for everyone. We just want to help people in need,” said Food Rescue US Miami Director Ellen Bowen.
By the end of the week, Bowen said her team expects to rescue about 30,000 pounds of food.
“It’s amazing to see how much food there is that otherwise would have been thrown in the trash that can now feed so many people,” she commented.
“There’s a lot of people that go hungry and I just think the look of gratitude is the most rewarding thing that I can see on somebody’s face when they come into our center to eat a meal,” said Johnathan Allred, the facilities caretaker at Miami Rescue Mission.
Friday, the organization thanked Twitter followers for highlighting its efforts.
Kevin Mullins, a pastor who is friends with the organization’s founder, Jeff Schacher, said he believes compassion equips neighbors to care for those in need.
“In other words, governmental solutions will always fall short of what a community can do to take care of themselves. Jeff’s proposed solution was all about providing tools to empower communities to take care of communities, and I loved the idea,” he concluded.
The rescued Super Bowl food will feed approximately 20,000 people in the surrounding area, according to Bowen.
“We believe in the power of community to make change. People working together toward the common goal of ending food insecurity is what drives our mission,” the organization’s website stated.