Hilton, American Express Partner With World Central Kitchen

NEW YORK–Hilton and American Express recently teamed up to donate up to 1 million hotel room nights to medical professionals on the front lines fighting COVID-19. Since April, hundreds of thousands of room nights have been booked. Now, the two companies are extending this work through a $1 million contribution from American Express to José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen (WCK) to provide healthy, freshly prepared meals to the frontline healthcare professionals who are staying at participating Hilton properties in cities across the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.

WCK began this free meal program at select Hilton properties in Los Angeles in April and is now expanding to New York and Washington, with additional cities under consideration. Healthcare workers staying at participating Hilton properties as part of the free room program are able to pick up meals delivered daily to the hotels. The donation made to WCK as part of this effort will enable the organization to cover both the price of the ingredients and the wages for the restaurant employees who may have previously been out of work.

Across the country, local restaurants have also been significantly impacted by COVID-19, with many having to close their doors and reduce operations and staff. In line with its mission to use the power of food to heal and strengthen communities, WCK, in partnership with American Express and Resy, is integrating local restaurants into its existing model, allowing the them to hire back some workers to prepare the meals for the medical professionals staying at Hilton properties as part of this program. Some participating American Express and Resy partners include Jon & Vinny’s, Osteria Mozza, Angler, Legacy Records, ATLA, Café Altro Paradiso and Estadio.