NEW YORK (News release) -- HelloFresh, the world's leading meal kit company, Pratt Industries, America's 5th largest corrugated packaging company, and food rescue organization Second Helpings Atlanta (SHA), have teamed up to provide 8,000 meals per week to those facing food insecurity in Atlanta. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified food insecurity over the past year, with a recent study from The Fresh Food Access Report stating that nearly 25% of Atlanta residents are still not within a half-mile of fresh food.* The goal of the Meals with Meaning program is to provide access to fresh, nutritious food, distributing over 400,000 meals through 2022.
The meal kits will be packed each week by Second Helpings Atlanta volunteers and distributed throughout the City with the support of the Atlanta City Council and City Councilman Michael Julian Bond. The Meals with Meaning meal kits will be available every Wednesday at various pick-up locations throughout the city. Individuals are encouraged to check https://secondhelpingsatlanta.org/mealswithmeaningatlanta/ or Council Member Michael Julian Bond's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/michaeljulianbond) for the most up-to-date information.
With fresh ingredients provided by HelloFresh and Pratt Industries, each meal kit consists of a step-by-step recipe card and all of the produce and proteins needed to make hearty meals like Chicken Sausage Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce & Zucchini or Cheesy Chicken & Bean Taco Skillet. The meal kit ingredients can also be used to create any dish the recipient would like based on their individual cooking styles. In addition to two meal kits each week, recipients will also receive a bag of fresh, seasonal fruit. As part of the ongoing program, The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs will also help distribute meal kits to their local network of properties making it easier than ever for the community to have access to fresh food.
"We know the busy back-to-school season can be really overwhelming for families and we are very thankful to Pratt Industries and Second Helpings Atlanta for partnering with us so that families in need have one less thing to worry about -- access to fresh and healthy meals," said Uwe Voss, CEO of HelloFresh U.S. "Helping combat food insecurity is central to our mission at HelloFresh so when we opened our facility in Newnan last year, it was an important goal of ours to launch our Meals with Meaning program in Atlanta and to provide meaningful support to the local community."
"Pratt Industries is honored to partner with HelloFresh and Second Helpings Atlanta to provide 8,000 meals per week and 416,000 meals annually to those in need in the Atlanta area. HelloFresh is yet again demonstrating its commitment to the local communities it serves across America and I congratulate HelloFresh CEO, Uwe Voss, for his leadership in establishing the HelloFresh Beyond the Box program." said Anthony Pratt, Executive Chairman of Pratt Industries.
"We are thrilled to be a part of this public/private partnership to drive out hunger in Atlanta," said Andrea Jaron, executive director of Second Helpings Atlanta. "We want to do our part to make sure Atlanta families don't have to choose between a nutritious meal and paying bills."
"It's great to work with our community partners on this effort to combat food insecurity in the Atlanta area. This is a tremendous step forward in the fight to end hunger, especially in our underserved communities," said Council Member Michael Julian Bond. "The problem of food insecurity in Georgia has only intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic and I'm grateful to be able to join this incredible group to work together to help serve families in need."
HelloFresh, which operates a distribution and fulfillment facility in Newnan, is the leader in delivering delicious ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes to households worldwide. With funding generously provided by Conyers, GA-based Pratt Industries and operational support from SHA and the Atlanta City Council, HelloFresh is able to bring Meals with Meaning to the local Atlanta community, providing ingredients to make healthy meals at home.
To learn more about the partnership and ways to volunteer, please visit www.secondhelpingsatlanta.org. To learn more about HelloFresh's social impact initiatives through its Beyond the Box program, visit: https://www.hellofresh.com/pages/beyond-the-box.
About HelloFresh
HelloFresh is the world's leading meal-kit company and operates across 15 international markets. In 2020, HelloFresh delivered more than 278 million meals to customers across the U.S. With a focus on helping Americans eat more sustainably, HelloFresh is the first carbon neutral meal-kit company. HelloFresh was named America's Best Customer Service for Meal Kits in 2020 and voted the #1 most trusted meal kit brand in American in 2021 by Newsweek. HelloFresh was founded in Berlin in November 2011 and has U.S. offices in New York, Chicago, and Boulder.
About Second Helpings Atlanta
Second Helpings Atlanta is a nonprofit food rescue logistics organization dedicated to reducing hunger and food waste in the metro Atlanta area by rescuing healthy, nutritious, surplus food and distributing it to those in need. For more information, please visit SecondHelpingsAtlanta.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
About Pratt Industries
Pratt is America's 5th largest corrugated packaging company and the world's largest, privately-held 100% recycled paper and packaging company, with more than 10,000 highly-skilled, green-collar employees dedicated to the environment and sustainability. Pratt has factories in 26 states with a manufacturing footprint stretching from New York to California.
