Page 257 - The New Gold Standard

Sustainability and Stewardship
program development, melding the food bank’s core competen-
cies in warehousing and distribution while developing new
product lines so they will be certain there will be a reliable net-
work of companies to provide needed contributions.
For instance, Bill says,“‘Atlanta’s Table’ is a prepared-food pro-
gram, where we work with the hospitality industry—restaurants,
caterers, hotels like Ritz-Carlton—where the partners donate
their surplus of prepared food. Basically the idea is that if you’re
the chef and run the restaurant, the last thing you want to do is
throw away food. You want to sell it if you can, but you don’t
want to throw it away at the end of the day. So we’ve created safe,
judicious ways to handle that food, and get it to those most in
need.” The Ritz-Carlton involvement in the Atlanta Food Bank
extends beyond donation of food items and includes represen-
tation on the advisory board for the Atlanta’s Table program,
support for the Atlanta Food Bank fund-raising efforts, and reg-
ular volunteer participation in community gardening and food
distribution processes.
From the Food Bank’s perspective, Bill shares, “Our rela-
tionship with Ritz-Carlton hotels here in Atlanta goes back to
1997, when I went to the hotel management and asked if they
could provide customer service training to the staff of the food
bank. That was a great benefit for us. Additionally, we have spe-
cial events where we might have food-tasting fund-raisers or an
evening with noteworthy chefs. Ritz-Carlton always steps up
and not only brings a chef but brings the food. It really heightens
our own event to have them there. But one of the company’s
ongoing involvements is food sorting, where the Ladies and
Gentlemen regularly help us select food for distribution. I can
only tell you that their service professionalism, work ethic, and
commitment to excellence shine in their productivity and pas-
sion toward that effort.”
While the investment by Ritz-Carlton in the Atlanta Food
Bank aids hungry families and children throughout the Atlanta
area, great benefits are also experienced by the staff of the hotels.

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