Beloved jam band Phish sets off on a major summer tour in just a few weeks, with dates across the country spanning from June 22nd through September 4th. With any major event comes food catering, and any good caterer always comes prepared with extra food for their guests. Fortunately, Phish is teaming up with an old friend to get that food in the right hands.
A charity group called Rock and Wrap It Up! has been coordinating food pickups from catered events since 1991, and has recovered over one billion meals in its award-winning twenty-five year history. As founder Syd Mandelbaum tells us, Phish was one of the first major bands that supported the cause.
“In 1994, I was a big Deadhead, but the Dead wasn’t touring at the time. Phish was playing Jones Beach Theatre, and we had already been working with the venue for pickups for three summers. When we launched the charity, we were looking for bands that were playing for a month’s stretch, and one of those was Phish.”
Once they started working with Phish and other bands like The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, the charity only grew. “Phish was very, very important to us, because there were so many Phish fans and so much management. The effect of having a band like that join us allowed us to spread out in new directions.”
Mandelbaum got back in touch with a longtime supporter of the cause, Ernie Anastasio (father of Trey Anastasio), and put the wheels in motion to get the band donating food again in 2016. “Ernie put in a call to Phish management, and got it set up immediately.” When asked if RWU wanted to work with Phish for future tours, Mandelbaum replied, “Absolutely we do!”
The charity prefers to call themselves pro-prosperity (as opposed to anti-poverty), and has a number of exciting initiatives to expand their outreach programs. One of them is an advocacy project to get the Federal Food Donation Act on the state level, to get programs like Rock And Wrap It Up established nationwide. Another is called “Mardi Bra,” which focuses more on feminine hygiene product donations. The third and final initiative is working on lesson plans with major artists on climate change, which they hope to team with Phish on in the near future.
We can’t think of a better way for Phish to give back to the community. Thanks for all you do, Rock And Wrap It Up!
If you want to find out more about Rock And Wrap It Up!, including donation and volunteer options, be sure to visit them online or call via 1-877-691-FOOD. They can be followed on Facebook and Twitter, @rockywrap.