The New York City Triathlon is a physically-demanding athletic competition, to say the least. The event begins with a 1,500 meter swim along the Hudson River, followed by a 40k cycling course, and concludes with a 10k run through Central Park. By the time it's all over, the athletes are spent and need to refuel.
At this year's race, boxes upon boxes of bananas, energy bars, pretzels, and water were available at the finish line to help replenish the exhausted participants. Despite the thousands of depleted athletes in desperate need of calories and hydration, a lot of food/beverages went unused.
Luckily, the team at Gentle Gentle Moving Company of Brooklyn arrived to make sure that none of it went to waste. Following the race, the Gentle Giant team rolled into the park to pick-up the remaining items. A fully-loaded trick then headed back to Brooklyn to deliver the items to St. John's Bread and Life Pantry and Metro World Child.
When all was said and done, nearly 2,900 lbs of food/beverages were rescued from the race and were provided to Gentle Giant's New York City neighbors in need. A large donation like this is especially important during the summer months, as food pantries must help to fill the meal gap for families whose children typically receive free or reduced cost breakfast and/or lunch at school.
This is the second time a Gentle Giant branch has rescued a massive amount of food from a race this summer. Back in June, the crew in Seattle delivered nearly 9 tons of food to the Rainier Valley Food Bank.
Thank you to everyone at Gentle Giant, the NYC Triathlon, and Life Time Fitness for working together to support our mission to reduce food waste and fight hunger!
There are are number of ways for you to get involved. Get started today!!
