KINGSTON, N.Y. — For the reason that begin of the COVID-19 pandemic, Angel Meals East has delivered free and wholesome meals to Ulster County homebound residents with out lacking a beat, board member Tricia Fusco stated lately.
The Kingston-based group tailored and there there was by no means a time that it couldn’t meet the wants of its shoppers, Fusco stated. For some time they delivered some grocery gadgets together with packaged meals “simply in case we must shut, however knock on wooden, we’ve got by no means wanted to cease delivering,” she stated.
For the reason that pandemic started in March 2020, so as to preserve volunteers and shoppers protected, deliveries had been lower right down to as soon as per week and private contact has been curtailed a bit in accordance with the desires of the recipients and the volunteers “to maintain everybody feeling comfy and protected,” Fusco stated.
Fusco, of New Paltz, a board member since 2018 and a volunteer prepare dinner since 2017, stated Angel Meals East serves 65-70 shoppers 5 meals, together with one soup and salad choice, weekly. Meals arrive both refrigerated or frozen, and likewise embody a fruit and generally a dessert.
“Each week we have a look at our meals and ensure we’ve got a vegetarian meal. … And our kitchen supervisor and our different volunteers create our menus … to make them as wholesome as attainable,” Fusco stated. On a latest week, she stated, the menu included turkey chili, hen stir fry and a pasta dish. And on Christmas week, she added, there was a ham dinner, a lasagna and shrimp risotto.
Earlier than the pandemic hit, Fusco stated deliveries had been made twice weekly however the quantity of meals delivered has remained the identical. Angel Meals tries to make use of as a lot native produce as attainable, she stated. A few of it’s donated, particularly throughout the rising season, and the remainder is a combination of things bought from a meals financial institution, Sam’s Membership and Adams Fairacre Farms, “primarily based on availability.”
Angel Meals East started as a company aimed toward feeding Ulster County residents with HIV and AIDS however “accepts shoppers who’re chronically homebound for any motive,” in line with its web site. And, due to its “long-standing outreach to folks with AIDS/HIV, Angel Meals East participates within the Ulster County AIDS Consortium, Worldwide AIDS Day, and accepts referrals from numerous professionals and companies serving individuals with HIV and AIDS,” the web site continues.
The group additionally maintains an in depth relationship with AIDS-Associated Group Providers and Mid-Hudson Cares.
Angel Meals East’s $72,000 annual price range is completely funded by donations. The kitchen area is donated by St. John’s Episcopal Church on Albany Avenue in Kingston, which launched Angel Meals East in 1992.
“We’d formally name [Angel Food East] a mission of St. John’s but it surely’s separate from the church in that we’re our personal group<” Fusco stated. “We’re our personal entity. … However we wouldn’t exist with out the flexibility to make use of the church.”
The group’s volunteer workers “ebbs and flows” however there was solely a slight drop in contributors when the pandemic hit. “Out of the 4 crews of volunteers we had pre-pandemic, three of these crews have come again and so we’re very pleased with that,” she stated.
Since cooking is completed on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Angel Meals’s “largest drawback” is discovering volunteers with “versatile schedules,” she stated.
To join meals or to volunteer as a prepare dinner, driver or in some other capability, name Angel Meals East at (845) 331-6538 or ship an electronic mail to contact@angelfoodeast.org. Anybody in want of meal deliveries can be contacted by an consumption coordinator who will decide in the event that they qualify.
Donations to the organizations could also be made on the web site at https://www.angelfoodeast.org/donate.
