The Tribune

THE Meliá Nassau Beach resort recently celebrated the first of regularly scheduled food collections by Hands for Hunger, a local food collection agency.

Surplus food from hotel events and restaurants will be reserved for Hands for Hunger and delivered by refrigerated trucks to 10,000 children and senior citizens throughout New Providence. According to Abigail Asgaralli, executive director at Hands for Hunger, every pound of food that is collected provides a meal for the most vulnerable people in the community.

The collections, organised in partnership with BELIEVE, the Baha Mar Foundation, are slated to continue at Meliá Nassau Beach after it completes extensive renovations to the property and becomes Meliá at Baha Mar. The food collections will also begin across Baha Mar when the resort opens in December.

Through the efforts of the BELIEVE Foundation and the Hands for Hunger programme, surplus food secured from Baha Mar hotel properties will support more than 13 recipient agencies that provide food for those in need of emergency food supplies, including the Bahamas Association for Social Health (BASH), Teen Challenge, The Bahamas Aids Foundation and Bethel Baptist Church.

In addition to providing meals, the food collection is also a part of Baha Mar’s environmental sustainability initiative to minimise food waste from its more than 40 restaurants, bars and lounges.

“We are proud to continue the long-standing relationship between the BELIEVE Foundation and Hands for Hunger. Together we can improve the lives of Bahamians throughout our community,” said Paul V Pusateri, Baha Mar’s chief operating officer.