Olive Garden and Feeding America have partnered up in the fight against hunger.
The Italian-American restaurant chain has pledged 5.5 million meals in addition to its already existing charitable programs, the company writes in a press release. Olive Garden already has its Olive Garden Harvest program in which each location “harvests” food that went unserved during the day and donates it to various charitable organizations. Olive Garden states that in 13 years it has donated upwards of 34 million pounds of food, which is about 28 million meals.
According to Feeding America’s website, 1 in 7 people in the U.S. suffers from food insecurity, including 15 million children. Through a nationwide network of food banks, the non-profit organization feeds nearly 50 million people. “Support from partners like Olive Garden is critical in the fight against hunger,” Leah Ray, Feeding America’s senior vice president of development, states in the press release. “This commitment will make a tangible impact by providing food for people who need it.”
This isn’t the first time Feeding America has teamed up with a big U.S. chain. Fortune reported that November 7 was 7/11’s “Name Your Own Price (Slurpee) Day,” and all proceeds from the promotion went to Feeding America.