How Great is This!

[mexylopez]

Fresh Fruit and Produce from Nieuw Amsterdam Donated to Feeding South Florida 

Submitted by: Julie

With Nieuw Amsterdam’s recently canceled cruise that was to depart from Fort Lauderdale, Holland America Line donated as much of the fresh fruit and produce on board to Feeding South Florida so it wouldn’t go to waste. Feeding South Florida is the largest food bank serving Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties, distributing more than 50 million pounds (42 million meals) of food annually to over 700,000 individuals – 240,190 of whom are children and 110,000 are older adults.

The ship donated 11 pallets of fruits and vegetables, and one of our vendor partners — Freedom Fresh — picked up the food from the ship and delivered it to Feeding South Florida. The ship’s Food and Beverage Director Ron van Vliet and Executive Chef Sinu Pillai, along with Holland America Line’s Vice President of Hotel and Food & Beverage Frits Van der Werff, selected all of the produce and got it all loaded onto the truck for delivery.

Removing the palettes from the ship to load onto the truck.

Feeding South Florida received a wide selection of inventory that had just been loaded for the cruise and would have gone unused. The organization accepted an abundance of vegetables including zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, bell peppers, mushrooms, squash, kale, carrots, eggplant, cucumber and more! Fruits included starfruit, mango, dragon fruit, grapes, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, strawberries and avocado. Fresh herbs and spices also were delivered, including sage, tarragon, dill, thyme, rosemary and basil.

Loading the pallets onto the Freedom Fresh truck for delivery to Feeding South Florida.

While we never want to disappoint our guests and impact their vacation plans in this way, we’re happy that all of this food will go to such a worthy organization and provide food to those in need this holiday season.

[woodworker&knitter]

So proud of Holland America and your vendor for delivering the food

Edited December 17, 2019 by woodworker&knitter

[1ANGELCAT]

A class act-kudos to HAL

[Lido deck main]

Very Nice, Well Done.

[LMD]

Thank you HAL from someone on the cancelled cruise. Happy tears now....

[Krazy Kruizers]

What a wonderful thing HAL did!!

[*Miss G*]

I am so happy it goes to a good cause and won’t go to waste.  Very well done, HAL.  I’m sure there was a lot of red tape involved to get this done.  Kudos.

[DeeniEncinitas]

I AM SO PROUD OF HAL!!!!!!

I COMMENTED TO MY HUSBAND ABOUT THE FOOD AND HOPED THEY WOULD DONATE.

This puts a big smile on my face and peace in my heart knowing HAL stepped up and did a very wonderful thing!

GOOD JOB HAL

Denise😊

[cat shepard]

Bravo, HAL!
 

It is so easy to lose sight of these magic opportunities, when you are scrambling to solve a major problem. Well done❤️.

[VennDiagram]

I ❤️ this

[ozzie0075]

I work for a food bank just like just like Feeding South Florida. This makes me so happy and I can't tell how much something like this is needed around the holidays. 

[VMax1700]

Great decision and hopefully karma............

[rafinmd]

I'll bet there was a lot of red tape involved in getting the authorization to take the food off the ship.  Well done, HAL.

 

Roy

[Himself]

HAL is a class operation.  We can all be proud of HAL!

[srpilo]

Good work HAL that's how you make Lemonade out of Lemons 

[Caribbean Chris]

So happy to read this! Some folks will have an unexpectedly great surprise during the holidays.

[St Pete Cruiser]

Out of a major problem for HAL and the guests, a little sunshine came through.  Well done!

[Niagarawine]

Very nice!

[woodinville cruisers]

 

So often acts of kindness like this happen and nobody knows.  Thanks for posting this.

[catl331]

This is great, but I hope they were also able to donate some to Abaco island which was devastated by hurricane Dorian. Maybe they didn't yet know that the ship would be going to Freeport for repairs.

 

Of course it's possible that many in FL who will be receiving this help are displaced former residents of Abaco.  

Edited December 18, 2019 by catl331

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you HAL.

This story gladdens my heart.

[kazu]

What a lovely silver lining to such a cloudy event.

 

Nicely done ❤️ 

[cruzn single]

We are so lucky to be able to be aware of deeds done by companies who are good corporate citizens and improve the lives of others.  And a nice holiday story!

[asebastian]

Well done, HAL.

[High Flyer]

Class Act HAL.