The joint venture, which began operating for the first time at the beginning of the current school year, provides thousands of hot lunches every day to five high schools throughout the country, thus helping to maintain the daily nutritional security of thousands of youth. The schools that have already started the project are located in Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Arad, Or Yehuda and Eilat.
The ''Meal from a warm home'' project saves quality, healthy and fresh food, which comes from the kitchens of catering companies, hotels, IDF bases, the Israel Police and more, and transports it daily to high schools, located in the geographical and social periphery of the State of Israel.
The selected schools are intended for boys and girls studying in educational settings that operate on the basis of a long school day and provide students with a supportive environment for academic success, while instilling social values. The meals are prepared under strict conditions, which are required in order to maintain the quality and freshness of the food, and are provided five days a week to thousands of students in the schools.
At an event held this morning at the Amal Max Fine Technological School in Tel Aviv, which is one of the schools in the project, Haim Gabrieli, chairman of the Tnuva board of directors, said: "As the leading food company in Israel, connected to Israeli agriculture for nearly 100 years, Tnuva has an obligation to maintain security the food, through the production of the essential food products, and regular supply everywhere in the country and in any security situation."
"As part of Tnuva's concept of corporate responsibility to reduce the inequality between the center and the social geographic periphery with an emphasis on children, we have been operating for a decade through nine 'Growing Up Homes' across the country in cooperation with the Israel Association of Community Centers and the local authorities. In these homes, a variety of activities and subsidized classes are offered for children from birth to 8 and to their parents, who give them tools for a beneficial development. The ''Meal from a warm home'' project of Tnuva and Leket Israel will help maintain the nutritional security of the youth who will receive nutritious and varied meals in schools, and will allow them to focus on their studies, and gain social and economic leadership in the future."
Gidi Kroch, CEO of Leket Israel: "Leket Israel is The National Food Rescue Organization works to save food. In recent months, it has become clear to all of us the need to maintain food security, in light of the damage to Israeli agriculture in the surrounding settlements and the hundreds of thousands who have been evacuated from their homes in the south and north.
"The organization works to collect and harvest excess agricultural produce and cooked food and transfer it to partner associations in the effort to reduce food insecurity and to guarantee a high level of access to food for everyone in the State of Israel. The distribution of hot meals through our good partners on the road and together with Tnuva will guarantee many young people a hot and nutritious meal every day that will help them with the various challenges that come their way."