Lisa Martella, Executive Director of A Loving Spoonful
Please tell our readers about A Loving Spoonful and the history of your organization.
A Loving Spoonful has been serving the Metro Vancouver Community for over 30 years. Each year, we provide an average of over 100,000 meals to individuals and families affected by HIV and, in many cases, co-existing illness as well. In addition to regular meals, our extensive menu is tailored to suit a variety of dietary needs and restrictions, such as “easy chew,” diabetic and low sodium. Our meals, snack packs and grocery boxes for clients are packed every Tuesday morning by volunteers, and then a different group of volunteer drivers delivers meals to those most vulnerable in our communities to ensure they are able to receive healthy and nutritious meals. Our referrals for service come from different sources, such as doctors, hospitals, case workers, and dieticians. We work closely with many partners in the community and are proud of our accomplishments over the past 30 years. With a small staff and an army of incredible volunteers, we continue to provide an important and valuable service in the community.
How have people living with HIV and AIDS been impacted by food insecurity?
In many cases, people using our service and living with HIV have a co-existing illness which can, in part, be due to having a compromised immune system. Quite often, we see individuals who have serious mobility issues and that’s where A Loving Spoonful’s delivery of meals comes in handy. The individuals that we serve are less likely to access other services where you may have to stand in a line or travel a good amount of time to receive meals or groceries. In many cases, their dietary restrictions may be more challenging to manage, so A Loving Spoonful’s meals remove a lot of the stress and guess work around accessing appropriate meals as people are trying to regain their strength, improve their health or go through medical treatment.
Tell us about the food programs A Loving Spoonful is currently running and how many clients you serve each week.
A Loving Spoonful has several programs: Daily Meals Program, Family Pantry Program, Ensure Program, and Emergency Meals Program. The Daily Meals program is our largest, with over 160 people on our service that receive meals and snack packs each and every week. Through our Emergency Meals program and due to COVID-19 we are currently serving approximately 500 additional individuals per week with meals.
How and why did you get involved with Vancouver Food Runners, and why is this partnership important to you?
The partnership between Vancouver Food Runners and A Loving Spoonful is incredibly special. We fully support the idea and their mandate of reducing food waste, addressing hunger and environment sustainability. Wonderful donations of protein or vegetables that are sourced and delivered to A Loving Spoonful by Vancouver Food Runners volunteers then get repurposed into delicious and healthy meals that are distributed right here in our communities. A Loving Spoonful is fortunate to have very large coolers and a sizable walkin freezer onsite which can accommodate large donations. Freezing some perishable goods has been a very strategic part of our partnership; if we do not have an appropriate menu item that works with a particular donation, we can then put the items into the freezer, which gives us that extra time we need!
How has COVID-19 changed the scope of what A Loving Spoonful accomplishes in the community?
A Loving Spoonful scaled up tremendously at the onset of COVID-19 and has continued to provide additional services to the community. Many people with HIV who were not able to access services or were afraid to leave their homes reached out to us for much-needed support. The fear of contracting Covid-19 was overwhelming to many, knowing that it could lead to a very serious medical situation because of their HIV status. At this time of need we were able to access emergency grants and provide meals to everyone who was referred or service and have continued to do so over one year from the onset of COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic, we also provided assistance to various vulnerable populations where their regular meal provisions were not able to take place due to safety concerns.
What has been your favourite Vancouver Food Runners "moment" so far?
There are so many favourite moments! However, my favourite was learning that we were receiving a really great donation from a movie set, and I asked if Ryan Reynolds was delivering the surplus food. The answer was no...but I’m still hoping that one day Ryan Reynolds may show up with some leftover movie set catering! [VFR side note: we would love that to happen, too! If any of you, our loyal readers, know RR, please have his people call my people... I mean, me.]
How can people support the work that you do?
A Loving Spoonful only receives government funding for approximately 20% of our program costs, so we have to raise the remaining 80% of our budget through donations. Since the onset of COVID-19, we have not been able to hold any of our fun and fabulous galas, so people can support us by making a donation online at www.alovingspoonful.org or by volunteering to deliver meals.
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