Rock And Wrap It Up! Gives Unused Food To Charities Helping The Hungry

Besides attracting thousands of visitors daily, rock concerts, hockey games and hotel chains have something else in common -- tons of food left once the guests are gone. But some of that food is being put to good use, thanks to Syd Mandelbaum, the founder of Rock and Wrap It Up! -- an anti-poverty think tank that recovers unwanted prepared food and gets it to where it's desperately needed.

Launched nationally in 1994, Rock and Wrap It Up! got its start by asking rock bands -- like Aerosmith and Bon Jovi -- to require in their tour contracts that leftover food prepared for the band and crew be donated to the hungry. Rock and Wrap It Up! would wrap up the prepared but untouched meals after concerts and other events and deliver them to local food banks and charitable agencies, along with toiletries and cleaning products donated by hotels, schools and other organizations.

Today, Rock and Wrap It Up! has fed more than 500 million people, supports over 43,000 agencies in North America, and is partnered not only with 150 bands, but with professional sports franchises, colleges, hotel chains, film and television producers and even the entire National Hockey League, with Major League Baseball considering signing on as well.

Mandelbaum's passion for stopping hunger and poverty was influenced by his own personal history. Both of his parents are Holocaust survivors who almost starved to death as teenagers in Nazi concentration camps.

"I want to change this country so that what my parents went through, no one in this country has to go through -- hunger," Mandelbaum told NBC Nightly News.

NBC reports that at Boston's TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins, up to 25 tons of food would get tossed every year. Now, much of that food has been diverted from the landfill; Instead, it's donated to Boston Rescue Mission, which serves hundreds of hungry people each day.

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How you can help Rock and Wrap It Up!

Do you have assets to donate that could help feed the hungry and fight poverty? Contributing organizations incur no additional financial costs or human resource commitment and are protected by law to donate food without liability. If you are involved with a sports team or league, hotel, music company or band, film crew or television network, school or university, or any other organization with assets to donate, please visit Rock and Wrap It Up!'s donation page to find out how to help. Don't happen to own a venue? Donate your time by becoming a Rock and Wrap It Up! volunteer.

Comments

[Stokes]

03:13 PM on 04/08/2011

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Winston Churchhill

[mamacat]

06:43 AM on 04/07/2011

When I was in college, and later, in the military, a lot of people got by on day old stuff, and on food stamps. We just took it as a matter of course. When it came out that military families were using food stamps to get by, the base commander tried to put an end to the practice. Go figure.

[HawaiiShira]

11:36 PM on 04/06/2011

It is criminal the amount of good food that gets casually tossed away in this country every day. Especially when there are hungry homeless women & children, not to mention veterans. It is great to see someone with the wisdom & heart to do what he can to alleviate anyone's suffering. Kudos!

[AbstractImp]

08:05 PM on 04/06/2011

The crown of creation
fritters away the gifts.

[Julepandme]

02:57 PM on 04/06/2011

I can't tell you how much food is wasted at my job (leftovers from meetings & conferences) - much of it completely untouched (for instance, a huge bowl of pasta salad that maybe one person has taken a little from) but, it can't be donated because it's open. And this goes on at all corporate businesses. Such a waste.

[BuckyJamesDio]

01:45 PM on 04/06/2011

About time! When I was young and worked in the food industry, one thing that always bugged me was the massive amount of food waste that was mandated by the management. When I asked why the food could not be given away, the reason was liability. If a person got sick from food that was donated, the restaurant could be sued. However, if the food was thrown away and later salvaged, there would be no liability. While I understood the logic, it still bugged me that there was so much waste. It makes me happy to see this effort.

[makemesmile]

02:52 PM on 04/06/2011

I worked at a military hospital and the cooks there said the same thing about the liability issue with donated food that was still fresh and edible. So much unnecessary waste of some good meals.

[bkerensa]

01:15 PM on 04/06/2011

More catering companies, restaurants and stores should donate food that is still good but not sell-able to food banks and meal places for the needy.

[reluctantcougar]

08:05 PM on 04/05/2011

Awesome program! I've seen so much catered food at corporate events go to waste, simply thrown away. I've often wondered why the food wasn't donated to the homeless and hungry. Great to know such an organization exists!