New York Nonprofit Delivers Food and Love as Medicine

God’s Love We Deliver meals being prepped for delivery. // Photo by Rommel Demano. All photos courtesy of God’s Love We Deliver.

Have you ever been really sick, so sick you couldn't get out of bed, let alone make yourself a meal? That might give you a sense of how difficult daily life can be for someone with a serious chronic illness.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March in New York and then stretched on for months, for people who were sick, along with the many everyday challenges came fear. Fear of being forgotten, of going hungry.

In response, Karen Pearl, executive director of God's Love We Deliver (GLWD), a New York nonprofit serving homebound people with illnesses, ramped up service.

Karen Pearl. // Photo by Rommel Demano

Pearl says: "We got calls from people in a panic. Suddenly, they had no food sources. Almost overnight 3,000 people—families and neighbors, health aides—didn’t feel safe to interact. Our clients didn't feel comfortable to have someone come into their homes to bring food. Many senior centers that fed them closed, and many types of transportation ended."

The demand for GLWD meal delivery service increased more than 25 percent in those first few weeks and has stayed consistent. Many clients have stayed on because the pandemic continues and their need remains.

Pearl says: "We have an operating principle: We will never turn anyone away who qualifies for our program."

When a person is sick, meal delivery can be medicine and love combined.

Nutritional support is the most direct benefit but acknowledgement, even pleasure felt from the connection between the person delivering and the person receiving the meal is invaluable. The bond is particularly meaningful to someone living an isolated existence, especially during an extended pandemic.

Pearl says: "We deliver meals, dignity, hope, and love. The meal is the medicine, because it leads to better health outcomes. But the love (attention, kindness, courtesy) is as meaningful to our clients, because they feel they are part of a community, they are not alone."

Before the Covid-19 pandemic began, GLWD had had plenty of challenges – every year, the biggest is usually meal delivery during New York's sometimes intense snowstorms.

Having now weathered what she hopes is the worst of the pandemic, Pearl feels they can handle any challenge.

Pandemic Pivots
Since the pandemic began, GLWD has produced up to 11,000 meals a day compared to 7,200 meals a day earlier in 2020.

There have been many changes to meet the higher demand and to keep everyone safe.

They have followed guidelines by the CDC, such as the use of masks and social distancing.

GLWD has scheduled fewer volunteers per shift and all are screened for illness.

They instituted no-contact delivery: Volunteer delivery drivers call clients as they are approaching and leave food at the door.

Delivery volunteers still try to maintain human connections, though. They wait to ensure that clients take the food, and still try to have conversations with the clients – from six feet away – to keep the relationships strong.

Now that people can work from home [and have more control over their schedules], more people say they can and want to help deliver.

Pearl says: "To help us manage the growth in service, we asked for more volunteers with their own cars, to make deliveries. It's taken a huge burden off of us. Our clients also develop relationships with the drivers/delivery people and our volunteers say it is a fulfilling experience. Why wouldn't we want to maintain those relationships?”

GLWD had to streamline the menu because they were making meals for more clients with fewer hands. They created a simpler menu and a shorter cycle of meals, which meant meals repeated more often. They still had to maintain careful nutrition profiles.

It’s the clients that keep the God’s Love We Deliver team motivated for the mission. // Photo by Peter Pavlakis

"Our clients are all food insecure, but they have the added burden of being very sick. We produce the food they need because they're hungry but it's also tailored to their medical needs, depending on their illness, medications, and allergies."

Food Is Medicine: The Research
Anyone who's ever been nursed with a bowl of soup knows that food and nurturing heals. There's a growing body of evidence to support the conventional wisdom.

God's Love We Deliver hosts an annual Food Is Medicine symposium for a coalition of regional nonprofits that deliver medically tailored meals. Pearl is coalition chair.

She says: "Research has shown that people will have better health outcomes when they have access to medically tailored meals — reduced hospitalizations, fewer emergency room admissions, shorter hospital stays, and because people can be released home sooner, they are happier people."

How GLWD Started Serving Food as Medicine
God's Love We Deliver began in 1985 when hospice worker Ganga Stone brought food to a person dealing with AIDS. They had a nice conversation, but when Stone returned the next day, the food was untouched. She had an epiphany—people who are very sick don't have the strength to prepare meals.

She worked with a nearby restaurant to deliver healthy leftover meals.

Pearl says: "Stone saw a minister she knew. When he heard that she was bringing a meal to someone sick, he said: 'You're not just bringing meals, you're bringing God's love.' This was especially true in the early days when people with HIV and AIDS were shunned."

A year later Stone and Jane Best founded God's Love We Deliver, coordinating volunteers to help prepare and deliver meals to more homebound people with AIDS.

In 1992, GLWD expanded the nutrition department to tailor meals to accommodate more health conditions. In 2002, the mission started serving meals to accommodate all illnesses.

Pearl, who became executive director in 2006,  says: "We have so much knowledge and ability to help people who are living with different illnesses. In fact, they actually have dual issues: illness and hunger. We help them manage both crises."

Local and Going Strong
God's Love We Deliver started in Manhattan 35 years ago and maintains a local focus, serving all five boroughs of New York City, as well as Hudson County, Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, Westchester, and parts of New Jersey. They continue to expand slowly, primarily in New York state.

Pearl says: "We have 10% annual growth, but we have to be thoughtful about expansion. Part of that has to do with delivery. Though we ship some meals, the majority of our meals are delivered to people's homes, so the locations have to be drivable. There are also peer agencies across the country, so it makes sense for us to stay regionally focused.

Our nonprofit has a unique model in that we own the entire supply chain: connecting with clients, preparing the meals, and making deliveries. There's only so much elasticity in that."

What's On the Menu?
Inquiring minds want to know: Does "medically tailored meals" mean that it tastes like…hospital food?

Pearl says: "No, our food is really delicious! Our food is designated for clients so I don't eat full meals, but I've tasted some of it. I love the quinoa cakes, and the white bean and corn soup. Our kitchen team takes food seriously. We have a staff group and a client group that serve as taste testers. We consider their assessments carefully."

Eight months after the most intense pandemic period, things have normalized a bit. Pearl says: "We're now bringing back the regular variety of a 28-day menu cycle, with no repeats, Pearl says. That will make people happier."

The truth is, though, what the GLWD clients love the best may be the birthday cakes.

Everyone’s favorite delivery. // Photo by Nicola Bailey

Pearl says: "People just adore getting birthday cakes. We deliver them for every client, for clients' children and senior caregivers, personalized, along with their food delivery for the day. It's a long-standing tradition started by Chuck 'The Baker' Piekarski, who was with us for 30 years. When it's a birthday cake day, the delivery drivers come to the homes with a big smile. Every single day we get notes from clients thanking us."

The Power of the Mission
Birthdays are a high point for everyone involved, but on a regular basis with clients suffering in the middle of a global crisis, it takes a deep sense of purpose for the nonprofit team to stay focused.

Pearl says: "The mission comes first to everyone who works here. So many people who work with us come because they have been touched by illness. It's a very powerful motivator. Everyone has also had at least one day that they couldn't get up and shower, couldn't make a meal for themselves—due to a flu or other illness."

For many people that happens for one or two days, from time to time. For GLWD clients, this may be their daily struggle.

Pearl continues: "When we think about that, we realize the power of what we do. When we hold that in our hearts, it motivates and inspires us. All of us — the executive team, the kitchen staff, HR, IT, everyone — share that deep, deep passion for caring for the people whom we serve. That's our secret sauce."

You can donate to God’s Love We Deliver here. []