By Dharshani Dharmawardena
Daily Bruin Contributor
The volunteers at Project Angel Food, the only organization in
Los Angeles County providing daily meals to AIDS patients, put the
finishing touches on every aluminum food package with a short
epistle or picture of love.
Sharon Pak, a second-year economics student, partook in writing
these daily messages when she worked at the organization’s
kitchen.
“It makes a difference,” Pak said. “Some
people wrote inspirational notes on these if they had the time.
Everyone gets their own personal attention.”
Founded in 1989, the organization functions under a budget of $4
million funded mainly by private individuals.
Three-fourths of these funds provide for direct programs while
the rest pays for staff, fund-raising and other costs, according to
the Project Angel Food Web site.
In 1998, more than 1,600 people infected with AIDS or HIV
received meals from Project Angel Food, which delivers about 1,200
meals a day to its clients.
Reflecting the demographics of the greater Los Angeles area, the
organization caters to a varied clientele.
In addition, more than 50 percent of the clients are people of
color.
Currently, women make up 14 percent of the client base.
Volunteers preparing and delivering the meals to clients’
homes have a variety of reasons for donating their time.
“(They volunteer) maybe because they lost somebody close
to them,” said Andy Stathis, the coordinator for the Santa
Monica/Venice site. “Or they just want to help
somehow.”
Volunteers start the day at 8:30 a.m. at the Project Angel Food
Kitchen where they, along with chefs, prepare food delivered from
wholesalers and distributors.
From 9:30 to noon, the volunteers continue to fix the meals.
By noon, drivers arrive at the kitchen to personally deliver the
food to clients taking carefully planned routes.
Stathis, who started as a volunteer driver more than three years
ago, said he always knew he wanted to help at an AIDS organization.
Although he had previously heard about Project Angel Food, Stathis
said he didn’t know much about the program but decided to
contribute his time anyway.
Having enjoyed good cuisine throughout his life, Stathis said
delivering food to people who needed it gives him special
satisfaction.
“Growing up, I had a mother who was always saying
“˜eat, eat, eat,'” he said with a laugh.
“And seeing that I love to eat … I knew I wanted to work
there.”
In addition to this love for food, Stathis said that seeing that
AIDS patients received proper nutrition also contributed to his
decision to
volunteer.
“Malnutrition is a main reason (people with AIDS) begin to
deteriorate,” he said.
While he started off as a driver one day a week, Stathis has now
achieved a paid position as site coordinator.
As part of his duties, Stathis calls and coordinates volunteers
by assigning them to delivery sites.
If the drivers can not make all the deliveries, Stathis himself
takes the food to the remaining clients.
While he receives pay, Stathis credited the more than 25 daily
volunteers at his site with carrying out the project.
“The bulk of the work is done by volunteers,” he
said.
People interested in volunteering at Project Angel Food can
choose various ways to help out.
Besides preparing and delivering meals, volunteers can reach out
by assisting at the office, helping with fund-raising and
recruiting new help from clubs and civic groups that have invited
representatives to come and speak.
At UCLA, Project Angel Food recruiters have reached out to
students in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology 40 who need
to perform community service in conjunction with the class.
Oftentimes, raising funds can mean events lasting two or three
days. Events in the past have included concerts, auctions and
fashion shows.
“The biggest one we have is Divine Design held at the
Pacific Design Center,” Stathis said. “It’s a
five-day event.”
Held every December, the fund-raiser, which features fashion
clothes and furniture, raised more than $800,000 for Project Angel
Food last year, according to Stathis.
He added that UCLA students who volunteered at Project Angel
Food mainly helped prepare and deliver food. For example, Pak came
to the organization to fulfill her community service hours for Bio
40.
Genevieve Dugay, a second-year sociology student, said she
volunteered with Project Angel Food because she thought it would be
more rewarding than donating blood or participating in some of the
other choices suggested in the class.
After attending the mandatory orientation session for
volunteers, Dugay said she learned how to prepare the specially
selected food for the clients.
“We made everything by hand, like peeling carrots and
grating cheese” she said. “It was a lot of gourmet sort
of food.”
While working at the kitchen, Dugay heard about clients who at
first seemed reluctant to call Project Angel Food for a meal.
“They didn’t want to be receiving a handout,”
she said.
On the other hand, Dugay said that other aspects of the project,
such as the companionship many of the drivers provided, convinced
many to call.
“I think it was good to see that these people really cared
about them,” Dugay said.
Having looked at other projects helping the AIDS cause, Pak
decided to donate her time to Project Angel Food because it gave
her more hands-on experience than clerical work.
Since her first time volunteering, Pak has occasionally returned
to the organization to help out.
During her experience working in the kitchen, Pak said she has
not only helped fix meals, but has met new people as well,
including some from other states.
“It surprised me that a lot of people would come in
everyday,” she said.
According to Pak, a couple who had lost a son to AIDS moved to
California to contribute time to Project Angel Food in hopes of
showing their gratitude to the project.
While they could not be with their son during his illness, the
organization gave warm food to him.
“They were just grateful that someone was taking care of
him,” Pak said.