Inspired by their core purpose of ‘Connecting the world to share food and care for one another’, Sysco LABS Sri Lanka, the captive innovation center for Sysco Corporation, the global leader in foodservice continued an initiative close to its heart, nourishing communities with Phase 3 of its ‘Share a Meal. Share a Moment’ programme recently.

Phase 3 of the 'Share a Meal. Share a Moment' program provided hot meals for communities in need both in Colombo and immediate suburbs, including those affected due to the recent flooding, while being aligned to Sysco's global effort in helping the needy and staying true to its purpose.

Gavi Perera, Head of Property, Sysco LABS Sri Lanka commented on the initiative and noted, “Providing food and warm meals is imperative when addressing the needs of people living in marginalized areas. Mobilizing our resources, together with staff who volunteered and made significant donations towards this cause, we were able to undertake the herculean task of providing meals to nearly 15,000 individuals and their families. Sharing food nourishes communities and fuels our purpose, creating meaningful impact.”

To ensure that meals were donated to those who really needed it, Sysco LABS sought the support of Alliance Development Trust, a local NGO operating with the vision of uniting and empowering communities by dynamic action for social peace, public justice, and economic sufficiency. The meals were delivered collaboratively by Sysco LABS staff volunteers and ADT resource personnel, with more than 14,000 hot meals provided to families.

Kushani Kalpage, Head of Marketing, Sysco LABS Sri Lanka commented on the success of Phase 3 saying, “This programme is inspired by Sysco’s CSR goal to donate 200 million meals by 2025. For us it is all about living our purpose and connecting the world to share food, and care for one another. As part of Sysco, the world’s largest foodservice company, this is an initiative close to our hearts, as we believe it fulfils an essential necessity in the community. This project enables us to live our purpose as we plan to prioritize hunger relief in the years to come as well.”

Phase 1 successfully concluded in December last year, focused on donating over 12,000 warm meals to communities in need. Similarly, Phase 2 which took place during the Sinhala and Tamil New year season provided over 1,150 hampers of dry rations to vulnerable families challenged to feed their loved ones. More information on the programme can be found on the company’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/syscolabssl.