God’s Love We Deliver has been supplying food to those in need for nearly half a century, and in 2022 the charity continues to grow, offering even more services to the people of New York.
Leagues of volunteers can be found inside the walls of 166 6th Ave. most days, both in the large kitchen and packing away meals. The organization works with physicians to create and then deliver free medically-tailored meals to those who are suffering from illnesses that may prevent them from cooking the kind of foods they may require to keep them healthy.
According to Senior Director Kate Janeski, God’s Love We Deliver was founded during the height of the AIDS pandemic in order to provide those suffering from the illness with nourishment. However, since that time it has greatly expanded to serve those suffering from Cancer and other ailments with the most recent program geared toward gestational diabetes.
“It’s our program for people who have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. And it offers a service to someone from the point of their gestational diabetes diagnosis, which usually happens around week 20 of a pregnancy to two months postpartum,” Janeski said. “We offer a medically tailored meal diet that is customized to the needs of gestational diabetes, which in this case does include a higher protein content and lower carbohydrates. We offer the support of our Registered Dietician nutritionist to each of our healthy starts clients and then for the first time here within our service, we have developed on demand education modules. So these are actually webinars that are offered in English and Spanish that each of our healthy starts clients can access in order to learn more about the condition that they’re experiencing.”
For Janeski, the love starts in the kitchen where volunteers band together to cook, puree, and bake. The organization employs large industrial-sized machines to make soups and other foods.
Inside the packing room, individuals sort the foods to be distributed all across the five boroughs and beyond. Janeski believes there is a circle of good will between both volunteers and those who receive the meals, stating that both parties are equally thankful.
“I think that everybody has a common experience that food is love–and I sincerely mean that. I’ve never met a more dedicated group of employees and volunteers who, regardless of the position that they hold within the organization, are rallying around this mission of food is medicine–food is love. And I think that is because of that strong commitment, and dedication, that’s what clients feel every time they receive a delivery. They open their door to a driver, they heat up the meals, they enjoy the nourishment, they talk to a nutritionist it’s all about food is love and what they are experiencing through our service,” Janeski said.
Additionally, the non-sectarian organization will be preparing meals for the Thanksgiving season in the coming weeks. For more information, visit glwd.org.
