California charity serves it’s 5,000,000th meal

Hundreds of times a day.

Food is scooped.

Plated.

Packaged.

And delivered.

To those who really need it.

“And so they all go out with a lot of love,“ said volunteer Maya Lousteau.

In 1990, Mama’s Kitchen in San Diego started delivering free meals to aids patients and has since expanded to include other critical diseases like cancer.

“Three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,“ said Alberto Cortes of Mama’s Kitchen. “We’re talking about people who are vulnerable to hunger because of their illness.“

Thousands of meals a week go out.

“We call it the cumulative effect of a daily miracle,“ said Cortes.

In the past two decades it adds up to almost five million meals.

“I’m excited to deliver the five millionth meal,“ said San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, just prior to making the milestone delivery.

He said hundreds of others deserve the credit.

“Well, the fact that 11 regular employees are supported by 650 volunteers is absolutely unbelievable,“ said Sanders.

For Allen Kohler, and David Jones, who both have full blow Aids, this is a special delivery, but they say each time matters.
“It’s really a blessing,“ said Kohler. “Yeah, we’re really grateful,“
added Jones.

There’s a lot that goes into it.
“The messiest days are when there’s mash potatoes and gravy,“ said volunteer Lousteau.

But the ones taking part say they don’t mind even the messiest days.

“I’ll keep doing it forever and ever,“ Lousteau added.
“As long as there’s an unmet need out there,“ said Cortes, “We’ll be here doing everything we can to make a difference in the lives of the people that we serve.“