COLORADO, USA — Delivering health and hope in the pandemic and beyond. That's the mission Project Angel Heart is living out to help hundreds of families who need it most.
And during the challenges of COVID-19, nonprofits like Project Angel Heart are being impacted financially.
“Our clients are the most vulnerable people in the state,” said Owen Ryan, president and CEO of Project Angel Heart.
For three decades, Project Angel Heart has been providing medically tailored meals for thousands of Coloradans living with life-threatening illnesses.
“So that means folks with heart conditions, HIV/AIDS, renal conditions, cancer,” said Ryan. “We make sure they get the nutrition they need to heal at home.”
Their mission is even more important now during a pandemic.
“We very quickly had to pivot to make sure all of our clients and volunteers are safe,” said Ryan.
Every person at Project Angel Heart, including Ryan, is rising to that challenge.
“Staff was working seven days a week," said Ryan. "We were packing bags, we were using our cars to deliver meals. We had to make sure through rain, sleet, snow, COVID, that they were getting meals every week.”
And COVID also brought a new set of people who needed their meals.
“We're lucky that we're able to make some partnerships with people across the state to support people recovering at home with COVID,” said Ryan.
And now it's Project Angel Heart who needs the support.
“We need to raise $2 million before Dec. 31 to meet all the needs next year,” said Ryan.
Their annual fundraiser “Pie in Sky” is grounded this year due to COVID-19.
“Turns out that pie is not the most COVID-friendly thing to do as a fundraiser,” said Ryan.
So they're adapting with cookies.
“We wanted to make sure a little bit of pie stays in our heart, we couldn't abandon it entirely,” said Ryan. “If you are someone who's willing to come out we could use volunteers. Every week we have hundreds of people who help deliver our meals."
It's not just Project Angel Heart's Mission, it's the spirit of Colorado.
“Our Colorado community is amazing," said Ryan. "I'm always astounded every time we've asked for help they've stepped up."
Project Angel Heart serves about 1,300 people per week, that’s more than 10,000 meals that go out of their kitchen and into homes.
They are always looking for more volunteers and have lots of ways you can safely help, from delivering meals to even decorating meal bags.
If you're interested or would like to donate, visit this link.
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