Our History

1985 – Hospice volunteer Ganga Stone delivers a meal to Richard, a man living with AIDS. He is too ill to prepare the packaged food she has brought him.

1986 – God's Love We Deliver is co-founded by Ganga Stone and Jane Best. Restaurant Claire begins donating prepared meals that Ganga and volunteers deliver--many by bicycle--to people living with AIDS in Manhattan. Other restaurants join in. Ganga and volunteers deliver an average of 50 meals per week.

1987 – God's Love We Deliver moves into the kitchen of West Park Presbyterian Church at Amsterdam & 86th Street and begins delivering 50 meals per day. Gay Men's Chorus donates a walk-in freezer. Our first van, Little Blue, is donated by then Borough president David Dinkins.

1988 – Our second van, "Big Blue", was donated with the help of Mayor Koch.

1989 – Honoring the growing number of dedicated volunteers, God's Love We Deliver hosts its first Volunteer Appreciation Party at West Park Presbyterian Church.

1990 – Bloomingdales offers to cook the Thanksgiving turkeys for clients due to lack of kitchen space at God's Love We Deliver and Bid of Love Art Auction at Sotheby's raises $600,000 for God's Love We Deliver.

1991 – Meals are being delivered to an average of 250 clients per day.

1991 – "Chuck the Baker" Piekarski joins the staff and creates the recipe for "Chucks" Famous Brownies.

1991 – God's Love We Deliver moves to a larger rented kitchen space at the American Youth Hostel at Amsterdam and 103rd Street.

1991 – Mayor David Dinkins begins the mayorial tradition of delivering Thanksgiving meals.

1991 – God's Love We Deliver receives first funding from Ryan White CARE Act.

1992 – God's Love We Deliver establishes its Nutrition Department to help people living with HIV/AIDS and their caregivers receive information about the importance of nutrition on compromised immune systems.

1992 – Friends Seminary in Manhattan begins the tradition of schoolchildren hand-decorating shopping bags in which God's Love We Deliver's holiday meals are delivered.

1992 – God's Love We Deliver starts delivering two meals a day (lunch and dinner).

1993 – God's Love We Deliver successfully bids on vacant building located at the corner of Spring Street and Sixth Avenue. Building is purchased from the city of New York. Capital Campaign to renovate and move into new building is launched.

1993 – David Geffen provides God's Love We Deliver with a gift of $1.5 million to renovate vacant building located at Spring Street and Sixth Avenue.

1993 – Nutrition Department publishes Living with HIV: A Nutrition Guide with Special Emphasis for People in Recovery. Thirteen additional guides are published over the next eight years.

1994 – God's Love We Deliver initiates yearly fundraising events with the First Annual Race to Deliver.

1994 - Kathy Spahn becomes Executive Director in May 1994.

1995 – God's Love We Deliver delivers its one millionth meal.

1995 – After Board Members Joan Rivers and Blaine Trump participate in Groundbreaking Ceremony, God's Love We Deliver moves into new home on World AIDS Day, Dec 1st.

1996 – Ceramic wall tiles are sold as a fundraiser and are installed in the new SoHo kitchen.

1997 – God's Love We Deliver delivers its two millionth meal.

1999 – God's Love We Deliver celebrates ten years as one of the most popular volunteer sites chosen by college student for Alternate Spring Break.

2000 – R&B singer Mary J. Blige presents a check to God's Love We Deliver for $50,000 on behalf of the M•A•C AIDS Fund.

2000 – God's Love We Deliver delivers, on average, over 1,000 clients per day.

2000 – Nancy Mahon joins God's Love We Deliver as Executive Director April 2000.

2001 – God's Love We Deliver expands its mission to serve clients living with serious illnesses other than HIV/AIDS.

2001 – God's Love We Deliver delivers its five millionth meal.

2001 – God's Love We Deliver begins delivery of frozen meals.

2001 – God's Love We Deliver prepares and delivers over 3,000 meals for search and rescue workers in the days following September 11th.

2001 – Swatch "Wristory" auction raises $720,000 to help cover post-9/11 fundraising gaps.

2003 – God's Love We Deliver client base reaches an average of 1,200 clients a day, a 23% increase from the year before.

2004 – God's Love We Deliver moves its kitchen to Long Island City while it renovates its Soho kitchen. The renovation improves capacity by 66% and lays the infrastructure for future growth.

2004 – God's Love We Deliver reaches milestone of over 1,500 active volunteers each month.

2005 – God's Love We Deliver initiates program for breast cancer clients and pilots caregiver meals program.

2005 – God's Love We Deliver delivers its eight millionth meal.

2006 – God's Love We Deliver celebrates its 20th Anniversary.

2006 – With funding from 20th Anniversary Lead Corporate Partner, the M•A•C AIDS Fund, God's Love We Deliver provides meals and nutritional counseling to two AIDS service organizations in Newark, New Jersey.

2006 – Karen Pearl becomes God's Love We Deliver's fourth President & CEO.

2007– God's Love We Deliver delivers its 9 millionth meal.

2007 – In the wake of a Valentine's Day snowstorm, God's Love We Deliver raises
over $34,000 in one afternoon to fund two emergency Blizzard Boxes filled
with non-perishable food for each client.

2008 – At the 2nd Annual Golden Heart Awards dinner, God's Love We Deliver honored
Harry Slatkin, 7th On Sale, and long time volunteer Roz Gilbert.

2008 – God's Love We Deliver prepares and delivers over 800,000 meals this year to
over 1,600 clients-a 20% increase from the previous year.