Atlantis lending a helping hand… Facilitates a new partnership to feed community’s needy

Atlantis lending a helping hand… Facilitates a new partnership to feed community’s needy 150 150 Sarity Gervais

A relationship forged between Atlantis and Hands For Hunger some seven years ago, and a newly established partnership between the mega resort property and the Jewish community has resulted in a pleasant turn of events for Nassau’s needy. A substantial donation of food products was recently given to the community outreach programme by Kosherica, said to be the world’s leader in Jewish travel and Kosher cruises, and Atlantis helped to make that connection possible.

Atlantis Senior Vice President with responsibility for Banqueting and Conference Services Bill Coteron explained that while Kosherica normally hosts its events on cruises, this time they chose Atlantis as their venue of choice.

&quotKosherica held a Passover programme here and there is a lot of food left over. Rather than letting all that food go to waste, we thought Hands For Hunger could benefit and the owner of Kosherica agreed. He loved the idea of being able to give back to the community because everybody here has been so helpful and nice. They’ve got three other programmes coming our way so this could be the start to something very good for Hands For Hunger and the people in our community the organization helps to support,&quot he said.

Thrilled by Kosherica’s generosity, Hands For Hunger Executive Director Zeleka Knowles said the hefty donation of prepared food, choice cold cuts, bread and more will go a long way in helping the organization in its goal of feeding the community’s less fortunate. &quotA donation this size is very welcomed by the 14 agencies we serve, especially because it’s a lot of different kinds of food and the top tier items that they look for and that includes a lot of proteins… We got a lot of meat, a lot of dairy products… and these are the kinds of things that really go a long way and that really sustain a lot of people, so we’re very grateful for the donation and for Kosherica coming to The Bahamas.&quot

Atlantis was one of the first company’s in The Bahamas to embrace the Hands For Hunger organization and it’s concept of feeding the needy. Knowles also expressed gratitude to the resort. &quotWe rely on Atlantis a lot. We come and collect cooked food from Atlantis almost on a daily basis… and that is just another example of how strong our partnership is that when they have a foreign client come in that they would recommend us and that they would help facilitate this kind of interaction so we’re extremely appreciative for Atlantis’ support and we look forward to a continued partnership with them.&quot

&quotIt feels great to be able to make this donation and let other people appreciate and enjoy all this great food,&quot shared Offy Shifman, Founder and Owner of Kosherica. &quotSometimes, honestly and unfortunately, we’re forced to waste a decent amount of food, for example when we’re hosting events on the cruises. Being land-based here at Atlantis and having an organization like Hands For Hunger takes all the guilt out of my work. This is perfect because not one morsel goes to waste and that’s the bottom line,&quot he added.

The Banquet Operations team took a leading role in establishing the donation process between Atlantis and Hands For Hunger, strengthening that partnership over time. The community outreach organization holds its major fundraiser annually at Atlantis.

&quotIt’s a great organization and it’s needed and we are happy to lend a hand,&quot said Coteron.