When the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of schools throughout the nation, it meant many children who depend on school lunches for their primary source of nutrition would face hunger.
In response to that need, Atlas has donated $20,000 to organizations dedicated to ending childhood hunger in the communities surrounding its operations in South Florida (MIA) and Anchorage (ANC).
Atlas Air Worldwide Senior Vice President, Human Resources Patricia Goodwin-Peters said the donations are part of the company’s long-standing commitment to serve the communities in which it operates.
“These past few months have been tough on everyone,” Goodwin-Peters said. “Families who have never struggled before now depend on food pantries to help feed their children. In many ways, it’s easy to feel helpless during these times. But this is one area where we knew we could make a difference as a company.”
In South Florida, the organizations No Kid Hungry and Feeding South Florida each received gifts of $5,000 from Atlas.
In Anchorage, Atlas donated $10,000 to The Children’s Lunchbox, a program of Bean’s Café homeless shelter. The program provides food for children staying at the shelter and for food-insecure children during the summer months, when school lunches are not available. In South Florida, the organizations No Kid Hungry and Feeding South Florida each received gifts of $5,000.
“Feeding South Florida is grateful for the support of Atlas Air, without whom we could not serve the nearly 1.2 million people in need of assistance,” said Sari Vatske, executive director of Feeding South Florida.
Lisa Sauder, CEO of Bean’s Café in Anchorage, echoed that gratitude.
“Atlas’s donation has allowed hungry kids to eat during this COVID crisis,” Sauder said. “With the school’s food supply disrupted, you helped fill in the necessary gap, so that kids could eat. Thank you for your donation!”
Goodwin-Peters said Atlas’s employees are the driving force behind the company’s charitable giving.
“We are grateful to the employees in Atlas’s Miami and Anchorage stations, who inspired this outreach,” Goodwin-Peter’s said. “It is an honor to be able to help in this way.”
