God's Love We Deliver is an American non-profit organization which cooks and home-delivers nutritious, individually tailored meals to people in the New York City metropolitan area living with severe illness. The organization is headquartered in the SoHo neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.
Co-founded in 1986 by Ganga Stone and Jane Best, it began with meals (delivered by bicycle) which were donated by about fifty restaurants.
As of 2011, the organization brought over 4,000 meals a day to people living with severe illness.
Video God's Love We Deliver
History
1980s
In 1987, God's Love We Deliver moves into the kitchen of West Park Presbyterian Church at Amsterdam & 86th Street and begins delivering 50 meals per day. Gay Men's Chorus donates a walk-in freezer. Its first van, "Little Blue", is donated by then Borough President David Dinkins. In 1988, God's Love begins feeding the children of clients. In 1989, God's Love hosts its first Volunteer Appreciation Party at the West Park Presbyterian Church.
1990s
In 1991, God's Love receives first funding from Ryan White CARE Act. In 1995, through the generosity of individual donors, foundations, and corporations, God's Love purchased a kitchen and home in SoHo. It also published the first of what would be 15 widely-acknowledged nutritional guides. In 1991, the organization initiates yearly fundraising events with the first annual Race to Deliver. In 1995, God's Love delivers its one millionth meal.
2000s
In 2001, God's Love expanded its mission to serve clients living with serious illnesses other than HIV/AIDS. In 2009, comedian Joan Rivers chose the organization as her charity to play for when she was a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice, a reality competition television series. Rivers won the competition and earned $250,000 for God's Love We Deliver. That same, year, Joan Rivers helped God's Love cook and deliver their 10 millionth meal.
In October 2012, fashion designer Michael Kors pledges $5 million to the God's Love Expansion Campaign in order for the SoHo location to undergo a major renovation. In September 2013, God's Love got a "facelift," at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Michael Kors Building, featuring Michael Kors, Joan Rivers, Blaine Trump, and Karen Pearl.
In 2013, God's Love We Deliver temporarily relocated its main offices from SoHo in Lower Manhattan to the New York City borough of Brooklyn while a new six-story headquarters building, named for patron Michael Kors and designed by Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects, was being finished. The new structure would replace the old one which was named for another of the organization's largest patrons, David Geffen, and in which it had been located since 1995.
In 2014, God's Love cooked and delivered its 15 millionth meal with the help of Joan Rivers, Michael Sennott, Sylvia Vogelman, author Linda Fairstein, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and New York City Council Members Corey Johnson and Robert Cornegy.
After 22 months in its temporary Brooklyn location, God's Love We Deliver completed its move to its new home in The Michael Kors Building in SoHo in 2015. The new 9,600-square-foot (890-square-metre) kitchen on the second floor has natural light, and includes four industrial-size refrigerators, three freezers, five blast freezers, five 80-gallon soup kettles, and a waste digester that converts up to 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) of organic food waste into disposable water.
In 2016, God's Love launched its first-ever cookbook, featuring recipes from Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mario Batali, April Bloomfield, Roz Chast, Alan Cumming, Suvir Saran, Meryl Streep, Alice Waters, and more.
On March 9, 2017, held its first-ever benefit concert at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The entertainers included Jackson Browne, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Billy Gibbons, Warren Haynes, Mavis Staples, Cyndi Lauper, Joe Walsh, Michael McDonald and Dr. John.
Maps God's Love We Deliver
See also
- Food portal
- New York City portal
- HIV/AIDS in New York City
- Meals on Wheels
References
External links
- glwd
.org, the organization's official web site
Source of article : Wikipedia