Food in focus as NHL team helps feed hungry residents through goals scored
When the Florida Panthers take the ice at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they'll be aiming to score more than just goals.
They're also seeking to cross-check food insecurity in South Florida.
The defending Stanley Cup champions have partnered with a Florida-based health insurance company and an area nonprofit to help feed hungry residents in the region. Billed as "Goals for Food," the partnership between the NHL team and Florida Blue contributes 650 meals for every goal scored by a Panthers player at home during the regular season.
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Harvest Drive, a South Florida nonprofit based in the county where the Panthers play, coordinates the distribution of meals in the community.
"There's just no words to tell you how great it's been going," Harvest Drive founder Renee Herman told Fox News Digital. "It's just amazing."
The Panthers have been partners with Harvest Drive for years, but they only began tying their performance on the ice to food donations last season during the team's run to its first-ever Stanley Cup crown.
The Panthers scored 168 goals at home during the 2023-24 season – amounting to 109,200 meals – and have totaled 40 so far this season. That's 26,000 meals and counting.
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Last week was Harvest Drive's busiest of the year. Volunteers from Harvest Drive and the Panthers served about 2,400 families ahead of Thanksgiving.
Families referred to Harvest Drive by school social workers and other agencies don't just receive a turkey, Herman said.
"They get full perishables" — including milk and pie, plus a $30 Walmart gift card, she added.
It's "everything that you need to complete your dinner," Herman said.
"So, it's not just getting a turkey and they leave," she continued. "They get everything."
Although there is increased awareness of food insecurity during the holidays, the Panthers wanted to do something that was sustainable throughout the year.
Hence, the Goals for Food program.
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"The reality is hunger is a 12-month thing," John Colombo, vice president of the Florida Panthers Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
Aside from the goals program, the Panthers hosted a food packing and distribution event in August coordinated by Harvest Drive. Volunteers collected 22,000 pounds of food to benefit 1,000 families.
The team also hosted a food drive for fans to donate non-perishable items before its Nov. 7 home game – a 6-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. The Panthers' six goals were the most scored at Amerant Bank Arena this season — resulting in 3,900 donated meals.
Why 650 per goal? It was a number that the Panthers, Florida Blue and Harvest Drive believed would make a difference.
"That's a lot of meals for one single goal," Colombo said.
The Panthers, Colombo said, are "really lucky" to be able to work with Harvest Drive because of its direct link to South Florida schools.
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"These kids, every two weeks, go home with meals in their car when they get picked up from school," Colombo said.
He said the food goes "right from our donors, right into the hands of social workers that are going right into the cars of these kids [who] really need the food."
Other NHL organizations have been doing their part to help feed the hungry this Thanksgiving.
Players from the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators recently distributed turkeys to local families in need — while the Buffalo Sabres provided vouchers for future game tickets in exchange for turkey donations during an area food drive.
"We're selling hockey in the middle of the Everglades," Colombo said, recognizing that the team is "a little different" from some of its peers in the NHL. That starts in the community, he suggested.
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"We can't control wins and losses on the ice, but we can control how we are as a partner in the community," Colombo said.
"And I think that's always been our goal here."