Food is Medicine. Food is Love. FISCAL YEAR 2017 ANNUAL REPORT Dear friends, We are proud to share with you the many remarkable achievements and milestones we have accomplished this year. In August of 2016, God’s Love celebrated one full year in our new home, the Michael Kors Building, in SoHo. We are now cooking and delivering nutritious meals for 6,803 individuals affected by severe and chronic illness – clients, their children and their senior caregivers. We are most grateful to all of our generous supporters and amazing volunteers who helped make this year such a memorable one. We continue to enhance our menu in order to provide clients with the best possible experience. This year, our Kitchen and Nutrition departments added a new “soft diet” for clients who do not need minced or pureed meals, but for whom chewing and swallowing our regular meals may be too difficult. Softer entrees like fish cakes and meatloaf are delicious, nutritious and easy to chew. These meals help many clients boost their nutrition intake with minimal discomfort and impact to their oral health concerns. As always, we strive to ensure that the most appropriate nutrition is delivered to each client, and we are thrilled to introduce this option into our meal program. Board Chair Scott Bruckner and President & CEO This was a year of firsts. In September, we launched our first- Karen Pearl ever cookbook, God’s Love We Deliver Cookbook: Nourishing 2 Stories and Recipes from Notable Friends, featuring an impressive in the New York City metropolitan area. These partnerships are group of New Yorkers including Michael Kors, Danny Meyer, criticalWhen to meetingPaul became the national sick, your healthcare generosity goals helped of better God’s healthLove deliver his nutritious meals during a time of change. Now, you can help thousands more of our most vulnerable neighbors Ina Garten, Meryl Streep, and many more. This project, a true outcomes,whose lives lowered have been healthcare affected costsby serious and increased illness. patient labor of love from our beloved Board member Jon Gilman, and satisfaction.Your gift Becausecould offer of thehope significant to someone impact like ofPaul. our nutrition dedicated volunteer, the late Christopher Idone, is beautiful and counseling and tailored meals, we are proud to say that Food is God’s Love is anticipating another kind of change – our imminent return to our newly renovated full of delicious recipes and engaging stories of how food binds Lovebuilding and inFood SoHo. is Medicine. Demand for our nourishing meals has grown 94% in the last eight years. Having us together as family and friends. All proceeds benefit God’s helped thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-altering illnesses, it was finally necessary to expand our kitchen and delivery facilities. Our program is Love, helping us meet the urgent needs of our clients while never Of course, none of this would have been possible without the helping to save lives by responding to the urgent crises of hunger and serious illness. As we turning anyone away who qualifies for our services. generositycelebrate our of our 30th community. anniversary This in year,May, our it is team imperative cooked to and remember that with an always-rising deliveredneed for aour record meals, 1.7 itmillion becomes meals harder for our and clients harder and everyday their families to achieve our critical mission. In March, we held our first annual benefit concert, Love Rocks affectedThat’s by why severe your illness. financial We aresupport proud is to so have urgently worked needed with moreright now. NYC! The concert, produced by our remarkable supporters, iconic thanPlease, 10,000 makevolunteers a gift to accomplishtoday to ensure our important God’s mission.Love is there for clients in their critical fashion designer John Varvatos and NYC real estate broker Greg time of need. Williamson, was held at the Upper West Side’s famed Beacon ThankYour you gift so willmuch bring for your individually support thistailored year, mealsand for and helping nutrition counseling to people living with life-altering illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Your Theatre. The evening was magical and certainly one none of us togift ensure will alsothat help we are improve able to our cook clients’ and home-deliver quality of life, customized allowing them to better enjoy all the will ever forget. nutritiouswonderful meals attributes to people of springtime. living with HIV, cancer, and 200 other severeA gift illnesses. of any With size themakes help a ofdifference, our Board and of Directors,is so appreciated. our I hope I can count on you. I want God’s Love continues to be a leader in advocacy for the Leadershipto thank you teams, for yourour staff, committed and 10,000 support dedicated that allows volunteers, us to cook we and deliver nutritious meals to our clients, their children, and their caregivers. integration of food and nutrition services in healthcare. In will continue to nourish thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers who Please join God’s Love today in providing love, hope, and nutritious meals to our clients each September, we were honored to host at the Michael Kors are too sick to shop or cook for themselves. and every day. Building the sixth annual Advocacy Capacity Building Project Thank you so much for being as generous as possible. Symposium. Sixty colleagues from food and nutrition programs Sincerely, across the country gathered to learn more about how best KarenAll my and best, Scott to secure partnerships with health plans and hospitals for medically tailored meals, the kind that only God’s Love provides Karen Pearl President & CEO 3 P. S . As we mark the 30th anniversary of God’s Love, I hope you will make a gift – any amount, $25, $50, or $75 – that will help us to serve all of our clients in every season. Thank you. Stay Connected CONNECT WITH US Get updates and the latest news from God’s Love through our email list, right to your inbox! godslovewedeliver My email address: __________________________________________________ godslovenyc Please send my gift acknowledgment by email. godslovenyc 630 FLUSHING AVENUE 7TH FL • BROOKLYN, NY 11206 • TEL 212.294.8100 • godslovewedeliver.org godslovewedeliver If you want to limit the mail you receive or you wish to stop receiving mail godslovenyc from God’s Love, please contact us at [email protected], or send GOD’S LOVE WE DELIVER is proud preferences to us at 630 Flushing Avenue 7th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11206. to meet or exceed all 20 standards Your contribution is tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. of accountability established by the Thank you for your generosity. Better Business Bureau for charities. #FOODISMEDICINE Apr'15 Appeal.Letter.indd 2 4/23/15 11:37 AM “I live alone, but I’m not lonely. With 6,803 clients, God’s Love, I really and truly feel your love all the time. If I didn’t have you, I children and would have no other options. Without a doubt, having your meals home- delivered is crucial to me. The delivery team makes me senior caregivers feel respected and appreciated. Everybody comes with a big smile and you can feel their heart.” served – OUR CLIENT, CHARLES “I just want to convey to you what it 1,686,438 meals means to me to have this food brought in to my home. I get your love, I get it. cooked, packed So I wanted to thank you.” and delivered – OUR CLIENT, ROBIN The mission of God’s Love We Deliver is to improve the “I don’t have to worry about going health and well-being of men, women and children living hungry and not having anything to eat. with HIV, cancer and other serious illnesses by alleviating Really and truly I can’t thank you all enough. I’m not eating as much junk hunger and malnutrition. We prepare and deliver food and I’m eating more nutritiously, nutritious, high-quality meals to people who, because and that’s thanks to God’s Love. Your food is filling and of their illness, are unable to provide or prepare meals it’s great that you look out for people that are not able for themselves. We also provide illness-specific nutrition to get the food that they need. We don’t have to worry. education and counseling to our clients, families, care I know that my health is supported with your food.” providers and other service organizations. – OUR CLIENT, ANGELA 4 6,300 nutrition Nutrition is our assessment key ingredient. & counseling sessions Every client on our program works with a Registered annually Dietitian Nutritionist to make sure we design the custom meal program that best meets their specific medical and nutrition requirements. Additionally, every Nutrition 23 Tips for client receives unlimited nutrition counseling. We are Older nutrition proud of this signature difference – individualized Adults booklets nutrition attention sets us apart from all other meal published programs in New York City. Top: Director of Nutrition Services Lisa Zullig, Bottom: RDNs Reena Every day, our meals are individually tailored with the and Carolina at a cooking demonstration freshest and highest quality ingredients to ensure that our clients always receive optimum nutritional value. From the development of our therapeutic menus, to nutrition counseling and to the safe delivery of our client meals, we see the power of food as medicine and understand the significance of proper nutrition. 5 Special Touches We strive to make the holidays brighter for our clients. On Thanksgiving and again in late December, we provide a special meal, plus a guest meal so clients can invite a friend or family member to spend the holiday with them.