MGM Resorts is stepping up to the plate with a new sustainability program that fights hunger in the Southern Nevada community.
In partnership with Three Square food bank, MGM announced the program and its goal to implement safe collection and preservation of surplus banquet food that will then be used to help reduce hunger in the area. The way it works is the prepared but unserved hot banquet food will be collected from MGM Resorts’ properties and given to Three Square. The food bank will then freeze the banquet food using a blast-chilling technology and store it until a community need occurs.
“Food insecurity is an issue that means a lot to me and to the 55,000 MGM Resorts employees who live and work in Southern Nevada,” says Phyllis A. James, chief diversity and corporate responsibility officer for MGM Resorts. “Those who struggle with hunger in this community are our friends and our neighbors. We care about them. I believe those in privileged positions have a moral obligation to lend a helping hand to help pull up those in need.”
ARIA Resort & Casino launched the pilot program in 2016, and has since developed specific protocols and food safety principles to help with large-scale recovery of the food. In about a year, more than 100,000 pounds of food (or more than 80,000 meals) has been donated. Now that other MGM Resorts’ properties will be implementing the program, about 800,000 meals are predicted to be donated by 2020 to those citizens combating hunger.
