MGM Resorts International (MGM) announced that it has donated five million meals to the community since 2016, achieving a 2025 social impact and sustainability goal ahead of schedule.
In 2023 alone, the company donated more than 1.2 million meals to local communities facing food insecurity.
The five million meals were donated through the MGM Resorts Feeding Forward program. Many were the result of grants to organizations that focus on hunger relief and funded meals donated to local nonprofit organizations.
Other donations involved rescuing unserved food from multiple points along the company’s food and beverage operations and delivering donations into the communities in which MGM Resorts operates across the United States.
“We are extremely proud of the environmental and social impacts of this program,” said Jyoti Chopra, Chief People, Inclusion and Sustainability Officer at MGM Resorts.
“This incredible achievement is the result of innovation, creative drive and the hard work of our people, all of which allows us to recover food of all types at a significant scale and help our neighbors struggling with food insecurity. In keeping with this year’s World Hunger Day theme, our company is committed to breaking the cycle of malnutrition and building a thriving world.”
One of the key features of the Feeding Forward program is the donation of prepared food from buffets and events, which addresses the major environmental concern of food waste alongside the societal challenge of food insecurity.
Trays of food are cooled, packaged and frozen in on-property blast chillers, ensuring safe storage temperatures before the meals are redistributed into the community. They are then donated to Three Square Food Bank, where items are added to the inventory and distributed to food insecure people. More than 130 hunger relief agencies have selected prepared frozen meals from Three Square’s online ordering system.
According to 2023 data from the national nonprofit Feeding America, there are more than 274,000 Southern Nevada residents—one in eight people—who struggle with food insecurity.
As part of its commitment to food security in the regions it operates, MGM has provided nearly $375,000 of grants to hunger relief organizations including nearly $195,000 to organizations in Southern Nevada. Local organizations to receive funding include Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, HELP of Southern Nevada, the Just One Project, Nevada Homeless Alliance, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas Inc and the United States Veterans Initiative.
“Assistance from major partners in the community is crucial to our operation, especially as recent reports show food insecurity rising in Southern Nevada. The significant efforts of MGM Resorts International in combatting food waste have resulted in hundreds of thousands of pounds of food donated annually, providing invaluable support in our mission to achieve a hunger-free community,” Beth Martino, President and CEO of Three Square Food Bank, said.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/noticias/2024/05/30/72412-mgm-resorts-exceeds-2025-meal-donation-goal-provides-over-5-million-meals-since-2016
