Penguins To Donate Food From Postponed Games To 412 Food Rescue
By: John P. Wise/KDKA-TV
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Concessions from this week's postponed NHL games at PPG Paints Arena will be donated.
The Penguins and their concessions provider, Aramark, will be donating food from tonight's and Thursday's postponed games to 412 Food Rescue, a group that connects surplus food to organizations around Pittsburgh, which then provides it to individuals and families.
A statement on the Penguins' website said fresh fruit, vegetables, produce, meats and cheeses, among other items, will be donated to 412 Food Rescue, which already has an established relationship with the team and Aramark.
"We generally donate to them at least once a week, and it's mostly food that goes unused after games," Aramark General Manager Nick Fenton said in the statement. "Obviously, this was a little different. Even though we had been given some notice that the games are getting postponed, we do still have a lot of food that we will not be able to save or use for an upcoming event. So this is definitely a larger food donation than it normally is to 412 Food Rescue."
This week's donation is expected to go to Shepherd's Heart Fellowship & Veteran's Home, about a 10-minute walk from PPG Paints Arena.
In a tweet, the Penguins called the donation "a silver lining" during an otherwise rough few days for the NHL.
(Story continues below the tweet)
Finally, a silver lining. Aramark has donated the food that would have been used for the Dec. 21 and 23 games to the @412FoodRescue.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 21, 2021
GM of Aramark Nick Fenton: "It's all the stuff that I think will honestly make someone's holiday a little bit better." https://t.co/CnIXNSzWyz
Winners of seven straight games, the Penguins were scheduled to play two home games this week -- Tuesday against New Jersey and Thursday against Philadelphia.
But a spike in COVID cases prompted the league to postpone 50 games before deciding to pause all activity until Dec. 26. The NFL and NBA also are dealing with COVID spikes and have been scrambling to re-schedule games in recent days.