Project Angel Food (Food Delivery)

Grading:

Ease Sign of Sign up

4/5

Physicality (0 being no physical labor)

1/5

Fun Factor

4/5

Info:

Address: 922 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90038-2702

Phone: 323.845.1816

Hours: 8AM - 5PM, Sun-Friday

http://www.angelfood.org

Time Spent

11:30AM - 1:30PM April 24th, 2009

Pictures

Cut the crap:

Project Angel Food is a volunteer organization geared towards providing meals for those who are home bound due to illness and unable to prepare meals for themselves. It was originally set up to care for HIV/AIDS patients but now cares for people with Cancer and other debilitating diseases. It was started in 1989 and since it’s conception, has prepared and delivered more then 3.4 MILLION meals. To find out more about Project Angel Food click on the link.

Personal Experience:

We arrived at 11:30 in the morning to get ready for food deliveries. For the most part it is a pretty easy job. As usual, the staff at Project Angel Food is very appreciative and friendly. In the delivery area all the food items for the drop offs are put in one spot. It is your responsibility to put the different items in the correct bags. Since they don't deliver on Saturday, our bags were a little bigger then usual. This was so that the clients would have their Saturday meals, however the bags were not heavy or cumbersome in anyway. This was a bit different from our Meals on Wheels experience in several ways. At meals on wheels the coolers smelled pretty bad, however the directions from stop to stop were a lot better. Luckily Justin and I had a GPS, this made our route much easier. A convenient part of the Project Angel Food deliveries is that you don't have to return to their office when you are done to drop off anything. If there is any food that can't be delivered you can give away or eat yourself. There was one person who didn't answer the door and we were not allowed to just leave the food so Justin helped himself to some Cheerio's. We gave the rest to a homeless guy. The people we delivered to were a little more talkative then the people we served at Meals on Wheels but not by much. I am sure that the more we go the more we will have a chance to strike up some conversations. 

Meals on Wheels of West LA

Grading:

Ease of Sign Up: 5/5

Physicality: 1/5

Fun Factor: 3/5

Info:

Address: 900 Hilgard Ave. LA 90024

Phone: (310) 208-3439

Hours: Monday - Friday Starting at 10:30AM

Time Spent:

10:30AM - 12:30PM

Cut the Crap:

Meals on Wheels of West L.A. operates just off the UCLA campus, out of the University Religious Council Building on Hilgard. M.O.W. provides hot and cold meals to people who are for the most part home bound and have a hard time getting food for themselves. M.O.W. provides over 80 people a day with a lunch and dinner. Clients usually get meals 5 days a week.

Personal Experience:

Justin and I had a pretty good experience at Meals on Wheels of West LA. The sign up process was very easy. All we had to do was show up. There was no paperwork to fill out. Within 10 minutes we were filled in on all their procedures and on how to go about doing our route. There are about 8 different routes, everyone is assigned one. First we went to the UCLA hospital loading dock and picked up two containers. One with the hot meal and one with the cold meal. Then we drove from residence to residence to drop off the meals. We were given a booklet for our route with all the stops and directions of how to get to each place. It was idiot proof. You don't necessarily have to be very good with directions. We had a really good time, but I think the more you go the more rewarding it would be. A lot of the elderly people we brought meals to were a little timid and didn't really want to talk. I am sure that the more you go, and the more familiar you are to the client, the more likely it would be to strike up a good conversation. One of the women who was really friendly was a 93 year old former Minsky's dancer from New York. She told us she had plenty of stories to tell us, I pictured amazing stories about her hanging out with the rat pack, and good old Blue Eyes smashing a bottle of Jack against someone's head, I couldn't wait. We told her we had plenty of time. She told us she would have told us stories but had lots to do and didn't have her make up on yet.

Project Angel Food

Grading
Ease Sign of Sign up
4/5
Physicality (0 being no physical labor)
2/5
Fun Factor
4/5

Info:
Address: 922 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90038-2702
Phone: 323.845.1816
Hours: 8AM - 5PM
http://www.angelfood.org


Time Spent
8AM - 1:30PM February 5th, 2009
Pictures

Cut the crap:
Project Angel Food is a volunteer organization geared towards providing meals for those who are home bound due to illness and unable to prepare meals for themselves. It was originally set up to care for HIV/AIDS patients but now cares for people with Cancer and other debilitating diseases. It was started in 1989 and since it’s conception, has prepared and delivered more then 3.4 MILLION meals. To find out more about Project Angel Food click on the link.


Personal Experience:
We arrived at 8 in the morning for a quick orientation from Vesna, the volunteer services manager, about Project Angel Food’s purpose and explanation of proper food handling. It included a pretty funny video that was not nearly as bad as we thought it would be. With the orientation out of the way we got killer lunch lady hairnets, latex gloves and aprons. In the kitchen we met up with Juan, the head chef of the day who was in charge of making the day’s meal happen. There were at least 12 other volunteers already helping out with meal preparation. We were thrown right into the mix and started throwing bags of frozen veggies in metal containers for the vegetable dish. Everyone who was working was very friendly and eager to help us get our bearings. In a short amount of time we learned the layout of the kitchen and where everything was kept.

After we finished up the veggies we split up. Justin went on to the meal assembly where the meals were packaged. He got to work with two cute girls who did not want to talk to him. Zach went on to slice and peel up onions with a gentleman who was all too eager to talk. Then it was off to cutting and peeling carrots. Everyone was easy going and they let us know we could take breaks whenever we wanted. All they ask is that you wash up before you get back to work. We both did a lot of other little tasks to help out and then it was on to dicing up all the onions for the next day’s meal. Sitting there crying next to each other was quite the bonding experience. It should be noted if we wanted to do something else we could have just asked. If there is anyone who does not feel comfortable doing a specific task they can always ask to do another.

With the day’s meals completed and the next day’s outgoing meal prepared we were ready for lunch. It should be added that the chefs volunteer as well. The chef who was volunteering the day we were there was previously voted best chef of the country. Our meal was delicious. He made us amazing lemonade. All in all it was a great experience.