Date started
1988
Website
What’s the story behind your organization?
Food & Friends’ mission is to improve the lives and health of people with cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses that limit their ability to provide nourishment for themselves. Specialized nutrition services for seriously ill citizens of the Greater Washington, D.C. area has been Food & Friends’ unique, community-based answer to this need since our founding in 1988 as an all-volunteer organization at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Why is your organization important to the community?
Food & Friends is tackling the issue of illness and food insecurity directly. As the only community-based organization in the D.C. area that prepares nutritionally-tailored, home-delivered meals for people facing life-challenging illnesses, we play a central role in the ‘Food is Medicine’ movement—advancing the idea that nutrition can be a vital part of medical treatment—to help its clients feel better, connect them to caring neighbors and empower them to manage their conditions.
Who do you support?
Food & Friends supports adults and children who are living with serious illnesses and who are nutritionally at-risk and limited in their ability to buy and prepare wholesome meals for themselves and their families.
How many volunteers do you currently have (estimate)?
5,400
What is your biggest need right now?
Funding – This year will provide 1.3 million meals to over 4,000 clients. Our services are free to our clients. Volunteers – We rely on volunteer daily to help prepare & package our meals in the kitchen and deliver meals to our clients’ doors. Without volunteer support, we simply could not provide 3,000 meals to our clients each day.
What else should we know about what you do?
Our registered dieticians also provide wellness education and nutrition counseling to our clients giving them the knowledge needed to continue good practices after they leave service.
