Meals For Touchdowns

Pasta Pantry and the Edmonton Eskimos make meals happen with touchdowns

The Edmonton Eskimos just wrapped another season and with the 31 home touchdowns scored by the team came 31 group meals from Pasta Pantry donated to the Ronald McDonald House. Meals for Touchdowns is a special partnership we’ve grown over the last year with the Eskimos Football Club and the Ronald McDonald House of Edmonton and greater area. For every touchdown the Esks scored on home turf, Pasta Pantry donated a full meal that would feed families temporarily living at Ronald McDonald House.

Let’s rewind a few years back and touch(down) on why this initiative is so special and personal for Nathan Satanove, Pasta Pantry president, sports fanatic and, most importantly, father. When Nathan’s wife Carissa had an emergency C-Section to deliver their son Ari, the wheels started turning on an innovative charitable project.

“My son was in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care). We were only in there for five days. From what I saw in those five days, the families that come in from all over the country … it is the best place that your child can be, but it’s the last place you want to be with a newborn. My wife and I stayed at my son’s bedside for five days, but just seeing the families that came in, you need to eat. You need to have energy to be productive parents, otherwise you sit there and you’re drained.” – Nathan Satanove

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. When the Satanove family was spending their days and nights in the NICU, Nathan’s father Larry brought in meals into the hospital patient lounge. In true Italian style, he brought TONS of food, which the couple was more than happy to share with other families in the ward. “We started filling the fridge there and the morale was boosted in the NICU with the families.” Thus, the idea started to form to make this a long-lasting partnership.

Community is a staple for us at Pasta Pantry and we are so thrilled about the connection we’re creating between our passions: family, food and fans. The 31 group meals to the house translates to 1860 individual meals – a donation value of $12400. We couldn’t be happier to see our food go to these families who we know need and appreciate it. Anything we can do to make the families going through what we’ve personally experienced a little easier brings our Pasta Pantry family the greatest joy.

Check out the article written on esks.com and stay tuned for more touchdowns next season!