Responding to the Coronavirus: COVID-19 by the numbers

Dear Community,

God’s Love is no stranger to crisis. In fact, we were founded at the height of one – the HIV/AIDS epidemic – and it is truly moving to see our community rallying again to serve those that need us most.

The number of people in New York who need us is growing at an unprecedented rate. As senior centers across the City have shuttered, home health aide hours are stretched to the limit, family members are not able to bring food to loved ones, and neighbors are less able to help out, we have experienced a huge uptick in referrals. More and more people whose care situation has changed have now turned to God’s Love because they have no other option. To meet this growing demand, we have adapted a streamlined menu, overseen by our team of Registered Dietitians, to get the maximum production out of our kitchen, while maintaining our strictest attention to the dietary requirements of our compromised population.

To keep everyone safe, we have changed many of our protocols from screening volunteers and practicing social distancing, to implementing no contact deliveries and wearing masks in our building and on the road. Our goal is to ensure that everyone connected to God’s Love – staff, volunteers and clients – feels safe and cared for.

• Last month, we brought on more than 1,000 new clients, which represents a 22% increase in the number of people we are serving and meals we are cooking.
• Overall, we are now cooking and home-delivering more than 50,000 meals each week.
• We have delivered 210,000 emergency shelf-stable meals since the pandemic began.

We could not get through this difficult time without the support of our volunteers and community. We know that New Yorkers look out for each other.

Today we completed our weekend delivering 140,000 shelf-stable meals. These meals were delivered lovingly by staff and volunteers, and included 2 weeks of nutrition for every person on program. We could not have done this without your help. Our clients are calling us to tell us how much they appreciate the delivery.

“THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH — I COULD CRY! Your delivery is perfect! Wow! You don’t know how much I have wanted exactly what was just delivered to my door!”

“This shelf-stable food is really going to make a difference because I haven’t left the house for about three weeks. The only human contact I have is with the drivers of God’s Love We Deliver. THANK YOU!”

We commit to continue caring for our clients throughout this pandemic and beyond. We know too well that even as the number of new coronavirus cases starts to lessen, the scars of this time will continue to deeply affect our world and our clients. Please give to our COVID-19 Emergency Fund to help us as we help our neighbors. We will be there as an integral part of the health care system and community of care on every step they take on the long road to recovery.