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Funders Support Critical Home Delivery Efforts |
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People with HIV/AIDS and other life-challenging illnesses often suffer from a combination of poor appetite and physical weakness that keeps them from making nutritious meals for themselves. Especially for low-income victims of disease and those lacking support, this creates a vicious cycle that worsens their condition. Thanks to the support of many local funders, a program called Moveable Feast is breaking that cycle by delivering meals and groceries to hundreds of homes in Baltimore City and in 13 Maryland counties.
Moveable Feast, a nonprofit founded in 1989 by dedicated volunteers, draws generous support from many local funders including the T. Rowe Price Associates Foundation, Clayton Baker Trust, Marion I. & Henry J. Knott Foundation, Zanvyl & Isabelle Krieger Fund, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, and the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
Baltimore City is second in the nation in the incidence of HIV/AIDS among major metropolitan areas. To meet this great need, Moveable Feast provided 675,000 meals to 850 people in 2007 and also delivered around 650 meals a week to four drop-in centers in Baltimore.
The program has expanded over the years to meet the needs of a growing and changing population. For example, Moveable Feast provides nutritional counseling, meets special dietary needs, teaches culinary skills, offers employment opportunities, and provides transportation to help participants get to the doctor and conduct other business.
The program courageously stepped up to provide meals for the families of those with HIV/AIDS and women undergoing breast cancer treatment, as well as the individuals - even though doing so resulted in the loss of some federal grant money. As a result, Moveable Feast received support from funders like the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
"Moveable Feast recognized that if you are a mother with limited means, you might give the meals to your children and forego them yourself," says Scot Spencer, Manager of Baltimore Relations at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. "Casey believes kids do well when families do well, and Moveable Feast also knows that a person with a chronic illness does better when his or her family does better." |
Moveable Feast Executive Director Tom Bonderenko says the funding community has helped fill needs as diverse as the people the organization serves. "The funders and the funding reflect the diversity we see in our work serving people from young single women to families to older people," he reflects. "Even though the funders have their own missions and procedures, they work with us to make it work for our clients." |
