Miami Heat partners with World Central Kitchen, donates $3m in support of hunger relief

Your Miami HEAT has partnered with World Central Kitchen (WCK), This is the next step in the team’s continuing effort to use their unique platform and standing in the community to deliver on their social justice pledge and effect positive change that uplifts the Black community. of food to heal communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond, whose pandemic relief efforts have a nonprofit organization that uses the power provided over 33 million meals throughout the United States and Spain. The HEAT and the Micky & Madeleine Arison Family Foundation have made a $3,000,000 donation to WCK, which will expand the organization’s Restaurants for the People program in Miami.

The goal of this program is three-fold: to feed hungry people, to keep local restaurants and their teams open and working, with an emphasis on supporting Black employment in the restaurant industry, and to spur other organizations to donate to the cause as well. During the COVID-19 pandemic, WCK has activated thousands of restaurants and kitchens to feed marginalized and vulnerable communities and medical professionals on the front lines through WCK’s Restaurants for the People program.

"As a member of the Board of the NBA Social Justice Coalition and through our HEAT Social Justice Pledge, we have committed to support and encourage black entrepreneurship," said Micky Arison, Managing General Partner of the Miami HEAT. "So, we have partnered with WCK to source the food from black entrepreneurs, chefs, and restaurants."

"The pandemic has underscored that food insecurity is a severe and an ongoing crisis," said Eric Woolworth, President of The HEAT Group’s Business Operations. "We know restaurants and their staffs are struggling, so, we strongly encourage them to get involved with World Central Kitchen’s Restaurants for the People network, which can help their businesses remain open, their workers employed and their communities fed."

"WCK is a team of food first responders who know that a hot meal is so much more than a plate of food—it’s hope, it’s dignity, it’s a sign that someone cares about you and that you are not alone," said Nate Mook, CEO of World Central Kitchen. "We’re grateful for the Miami HEAT’s support and belief in our mission–and commitment to support the people of Miami. This team will support our Restaurants for the People program, which will work with local restaurants directly to help keep their business afloat while also providing hundreds of thousands of meals for their neighbors."

Founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen (WCK) uses the power of food to heal communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond. WCK has created a new model for disaster response through its work helping devastated communities recover and establish resilient food systems. WCK has served more than 50 million fresh meals to people impacted by natural disasters and other crises around the world in countries including The Bahamas, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mozambique, Venezuela, and the United States. WCK’s Resilience Programs in the Caribbean and Central America have trained hundreds of chefs and school cooks, advanced clean cooking practices, and awarded grants to farms, fisheries and small food businesses while also providing training and networking opportunities. Learn more at wck.org.