Timberwolves, Lynx give back to community by donating stadium food
It takes a lot of food to serve a crowd at Target Center for a Minnesota Timberwolves or Lynx game. The stadium chefs prepare a lot, but whatever is not sold is also not wasted.
"We portion everything into these little containers," said Jason Steidle, senior executive chef at Target Center, as he packaged up whatever was left over of the fresh-made food for a recent Timberwolves home game.
He was preparing it to be delivered to YouthLink in downtown Minneapolis the following morning.
"It's just the right thing to do," said Steidle.
It's a food recovery program started just last season by Steidle and Timberwolves and Lynx Executive Chef David Fhima. The two witnessed how much leftover food they were throwing out each night after games and other events and wanted to make a change.
"The amount of food that was getting discarded was just heartbreaking," said Fhima, who says it's important to him that his top-tier food is gifted to those who need it most. "The food that is being prepared and served and then distributed to the community is the exact same food that the people sitting courtside are paying a lot of money for."
YouthLink benefits greatly from the food donation as they serve over 100,000 meals a year.
"It's helping the most vulnerable yong adults in the Twin Cities that are coming here for refuge, that are coming here for safety," said Rich Melzer, YouthLink CEO.
Melzer says this partnership saves them money, resources, but most importantly creates a bond.
"We're nourishing them with high-quality food that they might not get elsewhere," said Melzer. "And that support tells young people that we love them."
Every Timberwolves home game, they average about 175 lbs of food in donations. Since this program started last season, they've donated a total of 7 tons of food.
Wolves fans tell WCCO the work behind scenes is a slam dunk.
"I'm very happy to hear this," said Bobby Jackson, a long-time Wolves fan. "I think this is what we do in Minnesota in terms of helping our neighbors."
