Client Spotlight: David

Everyone must deal with limits. Everything falls away. Every single thing will be lost. And understanding this yet not letting it define him is how David De Porte deals with the loss of his vision and the impact on the things he has always loved to do. 

Born in Manhattan David lived just three blocks from where he now resides in Greenwich Village. To the young David’s chagrin, he was uprooted from his beloved Manhattan to serve out the rest of his childhood in a tiny suburb of Albany at the age of five when his family moved there. David came back to his beloved Manhattan as soon as he could. 

At Cornell University David was an English literature major with a minor in Art History. The irony of these pursuits on a blind man is not lost on David. He describes himself as “an ok-looking person with a magnificent looking guide dog called Ven.”  Ven is a frequent denizen of the great concert halls of New York, always at David’s side, and is among the most culturally literate dogs in the city. Ven has been David’s constant companion for the last six and a half years.

In conversation David’s thoughtful pauses and deliberate responses hint at a rigorous mindset and an exacting way with language. They are the thoughts and words of a writer who has practiced his trade all his adult life.

For David committing words to paper started when he wrote and had a novel published at jaw-droppingly young age of 19. David said that he had been told that the story was very good – that is, for a 19-year-old. It has been some 30 years since he last read it himself. David has also written and acted in plays produced off-Broadway and was a theater critic for the Village Voice and as a freelancer.

To earn a more sustainable living David taught business and technical writing and would later go on to supervise editors and writers alike. David has many close friends in the city and they range in age 19 to 80.

David likes to keep active in the community and just as he has benefited from God’s Love and other organizations he likes to help others when he gets the chance by serving on committees and boards of various organizations. 

Several years ago David had a stroke which limited his mobility. It was then that he started receiving free, delicious, and convenient meals from God’s Love which are nutritionally tailored for his specific medical needs. Such a diet emphasizes fruits and vegetables (especially leafy greens), whole grains rich in fiber and lean protein sources. He was referred by his doctor but he knew about the organization through friends who experienced their own health challenges and saw the differences the meals were making in their lives.

If God’s Love was not around David is convinced he would eat less well-balanced meals. David say he can feel the difference the nutritionally designed meals are having on his physical health and mental well-being. He feels his diet is much more nourishing. And he considers himself fortunate for having to spend less time and effort on shopping and preparing meals.

 “God’s Love meals are nourishing in every way.”

“The meals are a solid, well balanced, delicious, dinner every night of the week. I used to be a good cook. But increasingly I would be around the stove and I would get burned. So I had to give it up,” David said. “With meals from God’s Love, all I need to do is open the freezer, put a meal in the microwave, take it out and eat it. It’s very easy and saves me from a lot of stress.”