The National Restaurant Association announced today that exhibiting companies at its 2012 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, held May 5-8 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, have donated more than 41,710 meals to the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD).
"Donating surplus food from the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show is a long-time tradition we are proud to uphold,” says Jack Crawford, convention chair for NRA Show 2012 and president and CEO of Ground Round Independent Owners Cooperative, LLC. "The generosity of our exhibiting companies this year is amazing, as the number of meals donated this year exceeded the number of meals donated last year by nearly 5,000.”
"We are so grateful to the National Restaurant Association and Show exhibitors for their donations to the Greater Chicago Food Depository," says Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository. "These donations are especially important as we serve 77 percent more people than we did four years ago."
NRA Show 2012 exhibitors donated 55,614 pounds of high quality, nutritious food products, which provided nearly 42,000 meals benefiting men, women, and children in need throughout the Chicago area.
The donated food was distributed through a network of more than 600 qualified GCFD member agencies, which include pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, day care centers, and senior living facilities.
