The Project Angel Food Community Van has been delivered and now on the road with 271 new donor names added to its side and back panels. This van symbolizes the generosity of Los Angeles and how important each donor is to Project Angel Food.

With the steady increase of critically ill men, women and children Project Angel Food is serving, late last year we recognized that we needed to add new delivery routes. The only issue was we didn’t have enough vans to do that. So in a Field of Dreams’ “if you build it they will come” moment, we sent out a message to Los Angeles that we were creating a “Community Van” and asked Angeleno’s to chip in to help us buy it.

L.A. answered the call and raised $69,341 from 528 donations covering the cost of the entire new, refrigerated van bringing our entire fleet to 12 vans. Project Angel Food drivers deliver Medically Tailored Meals to 2,400 people every single day to all 4,700 square miles of Los Angeles County, from the Antelope Valley to the South Bay, to everywhere in between.

As a thank you to donors who made this possible, Project Angel Food wrapped the van with the names of every donor so that as the van travels around Los Angeles, people on the street will see the givers who made getting lifesaving meals to our most vulnerable community members possible.

Project Angel Food will host an open house this spring where the 271 sponsors of the Community Van will be able come and see the van, take pictures, meet our drivers and staff, and get a tour of our kitchen and facilities. Our CEO Richard Ayoub says, “When I see these community members’ names on the van, I see their generosity and I’m so grateful to them. Now, I want a chance to thank them face to face.”

The new van was even featured on Spectrum News 1 SoCal in a story about rising fuel and food costs. And as these items continue to increase, know that your donations are more valuable today than ever.