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(CNN) ––
The documentary "The Last Dance" was full of highlights about Michael Jordan's time with the six-time champion Chicago Bulls.
Now some of the proceeds from the Emmy-winning production will go to bringing plates of food to the tables of the hungry in America.
Feeding America, the country's largest food aid organization, thanked "His Airness" on Wednesday for a donation of US $ 2 million.
A gesture that comes as the pandemic pushes an exorbitant number of Americans out of food security.
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"In these challenging times and in a year of unimaginable difficulty due to covid-19, it is more important than ever to pause and give thanks," said Jordan, a 14-time NBA All Star, in a tweet sent by the organization.
"I am proud to donate additional proceeds from 'The Last Dance' to Feeding America and its member food banks in the Carolinas and Chicago," added the sports star.
Michael Jordan's hit documentary does more than entertain
ESPN's "The Last Dance" is a 10-part documentary series about one of the greatest basketball players in history.
(And, yes, many basketball fans would say Jordan is the best.)
The production was a very timely distraction in April, near the start of the pandemic.
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The documentary was created with hundreds of hours of footage recording the Bulls' rise to total dominance in the 1990s. The special focus is on the 1997-1998 season, when Jordan and his team won the last of six titles.
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The documentary series was to initially air from June.
However, when COVID-19 forced a hiatus in the NBA season and other sports offerings, ESPN pushed forward its launch to fill the programming gap.
Sports fans and casual fans alike loved "The Last Dance."
And so the figures reveal: 5.6 million people tuned in to each episode on average.
This makes it the most-watched ESPN documentary ever.
Even on top of a 2012 production on Auburn University sports phenomenon Bo Jackson.
Michael Jordan's donation comes just in time.
Feeding America warned earlier this month that more than 54 million Americans could soon face food insecurity.
A figure that rivals recession statistics.
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That is about 16% of the population.
Or, in other words, more than 1 in 6 Americans.
The sum represents roughly 17 million more people than were hungry before the coronavirus outbreak, according to Feeding America.
"What we have seen has, unfortunately, been a consistent level of need significantly higher since the pandemic began," said Katie Fitzgerald, director of operations for the nonprofit organization.
"About 40% of people who show up for food distribution have never had to rely on charitable food assistance before," he added.
In April, the US Department of Agriculture indicated that it had set aside more than 1.7 billion to help food banks in the looming crisis.
"It's a relief"
This week, Regina Status accepted a food basket filled with turkey and other Thanksgiving mainstays at her apartment in the Bronx, New York.
The products came from the Agatha House Foundation, a local food pantry,
She was not eligible for unemployment benefit and depended on the money she set aside for her daughters' college fund to survive, she told CNN.
Losing his car several weeks ago made his life more difficult.
She is grateful for the weekly deliveries from Agatha House, she noted.
Regina Status, right, and her daughter, 13, feed their neighbor, Mammie Vinning, in the Bronx.
"I didn't even know where this was going to come from," he said.
"It's a relief that someone is really thinking of me."
Agatha House now sees many new faces.
And it's seen a 100% increase in demand since the pandemic began, according to founder Jeanette Joseph-Greenaway.
The Bronx, New York's poorest borough, serves as a microcosm of the national crisis.
Precisely, it has the highest number of covid-19 cases and the highest unemployment rate in the five districts.
Which shows how the pandemic and its severe side effects threaten to exacerbate the already glaring health disparities among low-income families.
Hunger and health problems hit minorities the hardest
The congressional district in which the Bronx is located, comprised primarily of black and Latino households, is the second worst in the country for food insecurity among children.
A condition that, in addition, only worsens with the closure of schools.
"There are 22 million children who even before this pandemic were dependent on free or reduced lunch," said Feeding America Executive Director Claire Babineaux-Fontenot.
"When you hear that schools are closed, that not only means there are challenges for educated children, it also means that meals are missed."
Status knows this situation firsthand.
“I have to constantly buy food because now I have to supply food for breakfast.
Now I have to supply food for lunch, ”he said.
Before the pandemic, black Americans were nearly two and a half times more likely to live in food-insecure households than whites.
While Latinos were twice as likely.
The figures are from Feeding America, whose projections for 2020 indicate 18 of the 25 counties that will be hardest hit are mostly black.
Feeding America operates in every county in the US, with a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries.
It has also instituted low or no contact options in many places, including dedicated senior hours, self-service pantries, and expanded home delivery.
Lauren Lee and Vanessa Yurkevich, both from CNN, contributed to this report.
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