Meet Brian Hotaling, Legacy Society Member

In 1993, just before the Age of the Internet, a list of volunteer organizations was circulated where I then worked.  God’s Love We Deliver was on the list and so I decided to volunteer there on Wednesday evenings since the concept of providing meals to victims of AIDS was a compelling one.  I had been helping out with meal preparation and service at my church for several years and so I already had an appreciation for the need and importance of nutrition in our lives.

The kitchen in 1993 was then in the basement of the American Youth Hostel building up on West 103rd St.  In those days, kitchen duty often lasted till 9 or 9:30 PM as this was long before the advent of frozen meals.  Two years later the announcement came of the move down to Spring St and I thought that was great, because it was only a block away from my apartment building.  And so I continued on Wednesday evenings as the operation evolved over the years, and with temporary relocations to Queens and Brooklyn.

In 2017 I retired and then the advantage of proximity became even more advantageous since I could view the volunteer website and sign up for shifts on short notice.  And so I expanded my experiences beyond cutting and chopping to meal pack out, kitting, labeling and van assistant.  Now I have a full understanding of the process which starts with peeling an onion and ends with delivering the cooked onion in a nutritious main course to someone who would otherwise have difficulty in providing a meal for him or herself.

And so here I am, still involved on Wednesday evenings and other times and after so many years, with an organization whose mission is so essential and worthwhile.  Of course, there will come a time when I can no longer physically participate and so that is why I decided more recently to include GLWD among my beneficiaries.  I cannot think of a more worthy organization in that regard.