CONTACT:
Molly Belmont, Director of Marketing
Discover Albany
Phone: 518-434-1217 x 203
Email: mbelmont@albany.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2018
Conference food feeds local community
Transfinder uses Rock and Wrap It Up to help the hungry
ALBANY, NY – Albany conferences can now help feed the hungry. Discover Albany is proud to announce a partnership with “Rock and Wrap It Up” and Mazzone Hospitality that will enable Albany conferences and conventions to help collect prepared but not served food and safely deliver it to those in need.
Discover Albany is coordinating “Rock and Wrap It Up” service for Transfinder’s Annual Client Summit at the Albany Capital Center, April 17-19, 2018.
“Transfinder will be one of the first clients in our destination to take advantage of this anti-hunger relief program,” says Michele Vennard, President and CEO of Discover Albany. “Transfinder is known for being innovative and for setting the bar when it comes to service, and with this latest partnership with Rock and Wrap It Up, they are setting an example that we hope other clients will follow. This is such a great way to give back to your host community.”
“We are pleased to participate in the Rock and Wrap It Up food donation program,” Antonio Civitella, President and CEO of Transfinder. “This initiative just makes sense. We are glad that Interfaith and the City Mission can make good use of this food donation to support their work in our community.”
“We are proud to partner with Transfinder and Discover Albany. Many thousands more will be fed as conferences donate excess to local indigent populations,” says Syd Mandelbaum, CEO of Rock and Wrap It Up.
Rock and Wrap It Up is a volunteer hunger relief organization that was started in 1994 to develop greening solutions that address issues of hunger and poverty in America. The non-profit organization partners with sports arenas, music venues, and convention facilities to recover unused food that would otherwise go to waste and give it to those in need within the community. Food recovered from the Transfinder Summit will be donated to the Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless and Schenectady Mission.
“The substantial food donations from Rock and Wrap after an event equate to hundreds of meals for guests of Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless (IPH). IPH serves over 60,000 meals a year to our homeless and low-income guests,” says Janine Robitaille, Executive Director of Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless. “Meal donations like this help IPH to stretch its meal budget while providing guests with a delicious catered meal.”
“Last month the City Mission served nearly 20,000 meals,” says Michael Saccocio, Executive Director, City Mission of Schenectady. “This great demand is stretching our staff and resources. That’s why we’re so thankful to Transfinder and Rock and Wrap It Up for partnering with us. This donation will not only feed our guests but treat them to some of the best food in the area. It sure is a blessing to be part of a caring community!”
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About Discover Albany
The Albany County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. was established in 1976 to promote the civic and commercial progress of the community through increased development of conventions and tourism. Today, we’re known as Discover Albany and represent more than 300 member-businesses. Each year, we assist in hundreds of regional meetings. Discover Albany also operates the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center, Henry Hudson Planetarium, and the Albany International Airport Information Center. For more information, call 518-434-1217 or 800-258-3582 or visit www.albany.org.
About Rock and Wrap It Up!
Now in its 27th year, Rock and Wrap It Up! (RWU) is an award-winning anti-poverty think tank. We research, discover and nurture potential sources willing to share renewable assets. Our donors include touring bands, educational institutions, the hospitality industry, professional sports teams, gaming parlors, hospitals and TV/film shoots throughout North America. Our name was derived from our first sector: recovering from touring bands backstage catering. We find and vet partner agencies that need and can share these resources with the poor. We write and help pass legislation on the federal and state level to increase the donated food supply. We encourage the use of the Whole Earth Calculator mobile application to access total pounds of food conversion to meals and greenhouse gas emission reduction which can be sent to social media sites. We strive to inspire our school partners to add Whole Earth Calculator Climate Literacy Lesson Plans to their academic studies, thereby enabling students to connect their actions to the reduction of poverty and carbon footprints. Our Mardi Bra/Hannah’s Project Initiative raises awareness and encourages the collection of feminine hygiene products for at-risk women and teens. The Veterans Toolkit is our newest initiative to get our databases of pantries/soup kitchens, vet-friendly colleges and employers into the hands of care-givers and agencies who support at-risk veteran and their families. All our partners are protected by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act (Pub. L. No 104-210, 110 Stat. 3011(1996) if safe food handling is used. RWU wrote the Federal Food Donation Act of 2008 (Pul. L. 110-247 122 Stat. 2314(2008) The Act encourages federal buildings to donate food from their restaurants, cafeterias and from outside rentals to feed our nation’s hungry. Through RWU, more than one billion meals have been recovered since 1991.Recognized by the White House with a Point of Light Award and recipients of numerous EPA distinctions, we strive to re-earn these honors every day