Nonprofit God's Love We Deliver preparing 15,000 medically-tailored meals for those in need
NEW YORK -- In an effort to make sure no one goes hungry this Thanksgiving season, the nonprofit God's Love We Deliver is preparing thousands of meals.
CBS New York visited its headquarters in SoHo on Wednesday. Dozens of volunteers were busy in the kitchen, preparing 15,000 meals.
"We have turkey, carrots, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and, of course, gravy, 240 gallons of gravy," chef Amanda Freitag said.
"We're doing about 7,500 pounds of side vegetables, just for our Thanksgiving meal," chef Andre Daquigan added.
The meals are medically tailored for people living with life-altering illnesses.
"We started as an HIV/AIDS service organization almost 40 years ago, but it since expanded to serving people with life-altering illnesses. Today, that list is more than 200. It's cancer. It's hypertension, diabetes, Parkinson's, you name it," said David Ludwigson, president and CEO of God's Love We Deliver.
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This year, the nonprofit saw a 25% increase in requests for meal deliveries compared to last year, in part due to lingering effects of the pandemic and inflation, but also, organizers believe for the nutrition.
"People are learning how effective medically-tailored meals are, and because we're the only organization in New York City that does them, they're coming to us in ever-increasing numbers," Ludwigson said.
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You can make a difference by sponsoring a meal through the Celebrate with a Plate program. A $10 donation provides one Thanksgiving meal, and for $20, you can sponsor a meal for a client plus a guest so no one needs to spend the holiday alone.
"This is probably one of the most beautiful meals I've seen in my years here. The turkey looks so good. It looks really moist," volunteer Joanne Gouge said.
God's Love We Deliver is still in need of volunteer drivers, especially in the Bronx, to deliver meals on Thanksgiving morning. It's not too late to sign up. If you have a vehicle and want to get involved, please click here.
For more information on God's Love We Deliver, please click here.