The Work of God’s Love We Deliver

-From the websites, edited by B J Pape

In 1985, Cabrini Hospice volunteer Ganga Stone paid a visit to an AIDS patient that changed her life. The patient, Richard Sale, was too ill to cook for himself. Ganga’s compassion took hold, a meal was prepared and delivered on the next visit, and an epiphany was born: Something as basic as delivering a meal could bring dignity and recognition to a desperate situation.

Elected officials joined the Bender family and God’s Love We Deliver leaders at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the historic Northern Dispensary. From left to right: Assemblymember Deborah Glick, Senator Brad Hoylman, Elijah Bender, Real Estate President William Gottlieb, Marika Bender, God’s Love CEO and President Karen Pearl, Board Chair Terrance Meck, Councilman Erik Bottcher, God’s Love Vice President and Chief Development Officer David Ludwigson Credit: Dusty Berke

Ganga’s experience then drove her to a second epiphany. The severity of Richard’s situation demanded something more than simply delivering food. It required preparing nutritionally-tailored meals that would support an individual’s specific medical treatment. She researched his needs and was on her way again, with a new meal in hand, when she was stopped by a minister in the neighborhood who recognized her. He asked what she was doing, she told him, and he replied, “you’re not just delivering food … you’re delivering God’s love.” And Ganga said, “That’s the name.”

God’s Love We Deliver (GLWD) was co-founded as an American charitable non-sectarian organization in 1986 by Ganga Stone and her friend Jane Best. The restaurant Claire began donating prepared meals that Ganga and volunteers deliver daily – many by bicycle – to people living with AIDS in Manhattan. Other restaurants joined in, and an average of 50 meals per week were delivered. In 1987, God’s Love We Deliver moved into the kitchen of West Park Presbyterian Church at Amsterdam & 86th Street and began delivering 50 meals per day. Gay Men’s Chorus donated a walk-in freezer, and their first van, “Little Blue”, is donated by then Borough President David Dinkins. By 1993, GLWD was serving two meals a day to 550 clients, as they continued to grow to meet the demand. Co-founder Ganga Stone passed away in June of 2021.

In line with God’s Love brand and purpose, a photographic mural donated by West Village photographer Suzanne Poli has the message “Gay Love is God‘s Love” from the 1985 Gay Pride march. Suzanne Poli, left, discusses her mural, with Mrs. Bender. Credit: Dusty Berke

The staff and volunteers of God’s Love now build cutting-edge nutrition and advocacy programs out of their Michael Kors headquarters in SoHo, at 166 Avenue of the Americas, at Spring Street. The meals improve the health and well-being of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, breast cancer and other serious illnesses by alleviating hunger and malnutrition.

As of 2021, over the course of 35 years of service, GLWD had delivered 26 million meals in New York City.

When COVID hit, GLWD continued to show up, through another pandemic rife with fear and isolation. In the first weekend when everything in the City shut down,

GLWD received 3,500 phone calls for help. At its height, GLWD had a 30% increase in demand, and GLWD volunteers stepped up to not miss a single delivery day.

Last year, GLWD cooked, packaged, and home-delivered more than 2.8 million meals, an agency record. GLWD accomplished all of this without ever having a waiting list and without a single cost to our clients. As an organization, GLWD applied all that they learned from those early, painful years and now serve people living with more than 200+ diagnoses including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, renal failure, heart disease, advanced diabetes, and HIV.

As GLWD experienced this phenomenal growth, they added more staff to support the increased number of clients– and that brings us to the Northern Dispensary. GLWD is dedicated to fulfilling the “Heal the Sick” mandate with medically tailored meals and belief that “food is medicine.” God’s Love will use the Northern Dispensary to grow their program and give staff members more space to accomplish their critical work. The program team of Nutrition Services, Client Services, and Healthcare Partners will be in this special space, making personal connections with neighbors in need who depend on God’s Love for nourishment, hope, respect and love. GLWD received 3,500 phone calls for elp. At its height, GLWD had a 30% increase in demand, and GLWD volunteers stepped up to not miss a single delivery day.