Sodexo Healthcare Donates $650,000 Ready-to-Eat Meals to Sinai Health System and the Greater Chicago Food Depository With The Help of Move For Hunger and Nelson Westerberg

GAITHERSBURG, Md., September 24, 2020 /3BL Media/ – Sodexo has been mobilizing its resources and providing support to clients and staff to help them stay safe and healthy amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting economic impact. Earlier this month, Sodexo Healthcare quickly rallied partners together to ensure a surplus of 139 pallets of emergency ready-to-eat meals from Detroit did not go to waste. In collaboration with Move For Hunger and Nelson Westerberg, the palettes were successfully transported from Michigan to their neighbors in Chicago at Sinai Community Institute and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

“Leveraging the reach of our Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation and our large footprint of clinical dieticians and nutrition services across the country, Sodexo’s mission has always been to provide nutritious meals and help people live healthy lives,” explained Catherine J. Tabaka, CEO, Sodexo Healthcare North America. “The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many and the resulting economic impact demonstrates how rapidly one can be at risk of hunger – especially in vulnerable communities – which is why we are making sure that no resources go to waste.”

The Greater Chicago Food Depository opened its doors to accept all 139 pallets on Sinai Health System’s behalf and is working in partnership to store and distribute the meals to local Chicagoland communities served by Sinai. In addition, the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation is donating $100,000 to the Food Depository. As families are navigating various challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, these funds will aid the Food Depository in their tireless work to meet the unprecedented need as they continue to serve families nutritious meals across Chicago and all of Cook County.

“During times like these, it is more important than ever to come together to fight for a shared mission,” said Kate Maehr, Executive Director and CEO, Food Depository. “Hunger and the need for nutritious food has never been greater. Donations like these help us continue to provide support and resources to communities who continue to struggle from the impacts of the pandemic.”

With the help of Move For Hunger and their volunteer transportation partner, Nelson Westerberg of Illinois, the meals were transported from Romulus, MI to Chicago, IL over the course of three days and over 280 miles. “Our mission at Move For Hunger is to find sustainable ways to reduce food waste and fight hunger,” Adam Lowy, Founder and Executive Director of Move For Hunger. “When Sodexo reached out, we quickly mobilized resources to ensure these meals were transported efficiently, knowing that many communities in Chicago are continuing to see an escalating need for food.”

Gregory L. Koehlinger, NEWESCO, INC.’s executive vice president, shared, “As a company founded in Chicago, when we heard about the opportunity from our partners at Move For Hunger to help transport emergency meals to Chicago, we were more than happy to offer our services and give back during this unprecedented time. We want to especially express gratitude to Nelson Westerberg professional van operators: Jeff Olsen, Jim Kennedy, and Tom Allen.”

Community Meal Donation Pick-Up and Census Event

Today, in partnership with Sodexo and the Food Depository, Sinai Health System is hosting an event where local community members are invited to the Sinai Community Institute to pick-up the meals donated by Sodexo. The event will take place Thursday, September 24, 2020 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. Catherine J. Tabaka, CEO, Sodexo Healthcare North America and Karen Teitelbaum, President and CEO of Sinai Health System will be in attendance as meals are being distributed to attendees, and The Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation will present the $100,000 donation to Food Depository Chicago.

“At Sinai Health System, our mission is to improve the health of the individuals and communities we serve and that means extending our care outside of our hospital walls to provide resources to our local community,” said Karen Teitelbaum, President and CEO of Sinai Health System. “We work every day in Chicago’s most underserved communities to care for people who are disproportionately affected by illness, poverty and other social challenges. Good health for us starts before someone comes to the hospital, it’s proactively ensuring that our communities have the access to resources they need – including healthy food.”

During the event, Sinai Community Institute’s Counting on Chicago Census team will also be on hand providing bilingual assistance and computer stations and tablets to help local community members fill out their 2020 U.S. Census forms.

“Helping our community members complete the census will help to determine which areas qualify for critical resources that children and families depend on. Completion determines funding for our hospitals, supportive housing for the elderly, libraries, community centers, Medicare and Medicaid and school meals, just to name a few,” said Debra Wesley, President of Sinai Community Institute.

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About Sodexo North America

At Sodexo Healthcare we build trusted partnerships with health systems to support their care delivery mission. Leveraging science, insights and imagination, we provide solutions and contribute essential non-clinical services wherever care is delivered, to enhance patients’ and caregivers’ experience while improving our clients’ financial health. Sodexo Healthcare’s 35,000 employees provide human-centered care with food and nutrition, environmental and clinical engineering services that support healthcare teams and overall operations at over 1,500 sites in the United States.

Sodexo North America is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 72 countries. Sodexo is a leading provider of integrated food, facilities management and other services that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life for millions of customers in corporate, education, healthcare, senior living, sports and leisure, government and other environments daily. The company employs 160,000 people at 13,000 sites in all 50 U.S. states and Canada, and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional jobs through its annual purchases of $19 billion in goods and services from small to large businesses. Sodexo is committed to supporting diversity and inclusion and safety, while upholding the highest standards of corporate responsibility and ethical business conduct. In support of local communities across the U.S., in 2019, Sodexo contributed over 151,500 in volunteer hours, and since 1996, the Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed nearly $34.5 million to help feed children in America impacted by hunger. To learn more about Sodexo, visit us.sodexo.com, and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter , and YouTube.

About Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation

Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation works to ensure that every child in the United States, especially those most at risk, grows up with dependable access to enough nutritious food to enable them to lead a healthy, productive life. Visit Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @StopHungerUSA and Instagram @sodexostophunger.

About Sinai Health System

Sinai Health System, a Chicago-based private, not-for-profit organization, includes seven member organizations serving the West and Southwest Sides: Mount Sinai Hospital, Holy Cross Hospital, Sinai Children’s Hospital, Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, Sinai Medical Group, Sinai Community Institute and Sinai Urban Health Institute. The system has 4,000 employees, over 800 physicians on its hospital medical staffs, 654 licensed beds, 100,000+ annual emergency department patient visits and eight physician residency training programs. www.sinai.org

About Move For Hunger

Move For Hunger is a non-profit organization that mobilizes the relocation industry to fight hunger and reduce food waste. In addition to collecting food from people who are moving to new homes, Move For Hunger helps companies and individuals across the United States and Canada organize successful food drives. To date, they have collected more than 20 million pounds of food providing more than 17 million meals to those in need. For more information, or to find out how you can host your own food drive, visit www.MoveForHunger.org.

About Nelson Westerberg

Nelson Westerberg is a global leader in corporate household goods moving and storage, talent mobility services. Established in Chicago in 1904, Nelson Westerberg is privately held and has unbending culture for differentiated quality, business integrity and value creation. The company’s clients consist of well-known multinational corporations with whom it has provided consistent corporate moving service for 5,10,20,30 and several at 40 plus years of service.  Nelson Westerberg is a long-term supporter of Move for Hunger, visit www.nelsonwesterberg.com

About the Greater Chicago Food Depository

The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago’s food bank, believes a healthy community starts with food. The Food Depository is at the center of a network of more than 700 partner organizations and programs – food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, mobile distributions and other partners – working to bring food, dignity and hope to our neighbors across Chicago and Cook County. The Food Depository addresses the root causes of hunger with job training, advocacy and other innovative solutions. The Food Depository is a proud member of Feeding America – the national network of food banks. By working to help those most in need go from hungry to hopeful, the Food Depository is building a Greater Chicago. Learn more at chicagosfoodbank.org