As part of its annual hunger relief work, the Seattle commercial fishing community is next week providing 250 delicious seafood meals to the homeless and unemployed at The Millionair Club in downtown Seattle, WA. The seafood is being donated by fishing company Arctic Storm through the efforts of the At-sea Processors Association’
Community Catch was established nearly eight years ago by APA member fishing companies to support hunger relief efforts. APA’s seven member companies, all based in western Washington, harvest seafood from the sustainable and well-managed Alaska pollock fishery – the largest fishery in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world. Each year, these companies join together and, working with local non-profit SeaShare, donate 250,000 lbs of fish - one million seafood meals - to local and national food assistance programs. The donated Alaska pollock being served at the Millionair Club is high-quality seafood that otherwise would have been sold in the marketplace.
“APA and its member company Arctic Storm are honored to support the Millionair Club’s extraordinary efforts to provide essential services to those in need in the community,” said Stephanie Madsen, Executive Director of APA. “We believe that sharing the bountiful fishery resources of our nation with those in need is as much our responsibility as being good stewards of the resource.”
Chris Dean of Arctic Storm added, “We hope that our volunteer efforts here today and the commitment of the Seattle fishing fleet to provide one million fish meals annually for hunger relief will encourage others to help neighbors in need.”
The Millionair Club serves hot, nourishing meals twice a day, averaging more than 10,000 meals each month. On Monday, the Millionair Club will serve its clients a lunch of crab stuffed Alaska pollock, vegetable garden medley soup, mashed potatoes, salad, bread and beverages.
“The APA meal is one of the most anticipated of the year,” explained the Millionair Club’s Deborah Crawley. “The meal itself is so delicious and such a treat for those we serve, especially coming during the fall when the number of workers going out is down, the days are shorter and the weather is turning foul. Having a delicious meal becomes one of the few things the working homeless have to look forward to and it is much appreciated.”
For more information, contact Karen Tarica at 206-369-0855 or LN89@aol.com.
About the At-sea Processors Association (APA) - APA represents U.S. catcher/processor vessels that participate primarily in the sustainably managed Alaska pollock and west coast Pacific whiting fisheries. Both fisheries are among the largest food fisheries in the world. Processing our catch at sea allows us to produce the highest quality seafood products. Visit www.atsea.org for more information.
