Who We Are

Project Angel Food nourishes the health and spirit of vulnerable people facing critical and life-threatening illness by preparing and delivering medically tailored meals with love, care and dignity. For more than 35 years, we have provided free meals and nutrition support to people across Los Angeles County who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves. What began as a grassroots response to the AIDS crisis has grown into one of the county’s most vital nutrition safety nets and a recognized leader in the Food Is Medicine movement.

Who We Serve

Project Angel Food serves children, adults, and seniors across all of Los Angeles County who are living with serious illness and experiencing food and health insecurity. Our clients reflect the rich diversity of the communities we serve, and many are among the county’s most vulnerable residents. In fiscal year 2025, we served a record 7,157 clients, with ages ranging from 9 to 108. Fifty-eight percent of clients were age 60 or older, and 84% were people of color, including 48% Hispanic/Latino, 18% Black, 6% Asian/Pacific Islander, 1% Native American, and 11% identifying with other racial or ethnic backgrounds. Sixteen percent of clients identified as White.

We serve people living with a wide range of diagnoses, including severe diabetes, cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal disease, cancer, chronic kidney disease, HIV/AIDS, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer’s disease, and other critical conditions. Seventy-eight percent of clients live below the federal poverty level, and 95% meet HUD’s definition of very low income. Eighty-six percent report Project Angel Food as their only consistent source of food.

What We Do

At the heart of Project Angel Food is the preparation and delivery of medically tailored meals designed to support each client’s diagnosis, treatment, and overall health. Our registered dietitians work closely with chefs to create customized meal plans that both nourish and support clinical goals. In addition to meals, we provide nutrition counseling and education to help clients better manage their conditions and improve their quality of life.

Every day, staff and volunteers prepare and deliver thousands of meals throughout Los Angeles County. In fiscal year 2025, Project Angel Food delivered 1,474,993 meals, along with 272,970 breakfasts through our Healthy Start Program for children living with critically ill clients. On a typical day, we deliver more than 3,110 entrees and 931 breakfasts, plus fresh fruit, across 76 major routes covering 4,751 square miles.

Our work goes beyond meals. We also provide birthday bags, veteran care packages, holiday meals, children’s holiday gifts, Mother’s Day flowers, and our Telephone Angels Program, which helps reduce isolation by connecting volunteers with clients through regular check-in calls.

Nutrition and Care

Project Angel Food believes food is medicine. Our meals are developed to meet rigorous nutritional standards and are free from artificial additives, trans fats, and excessive processing. Our Client and Nutrition Services teams coordinate individualized meal plans and offer ongoing counseling to ensure clients receive the support they need over time. Menu variety is also carefully planned to avoid repetition within a 90-day cycle.

We are also proud to be a founding member of the Food Is Medicine Coalition. Project Angel Food is one of only a small number of agencies in the country to hold coalition accreditation, reflecting high standards in meal quality, food safety, packaging, and client services.

Volunteers

Volunteers are at the heart of Project Angel Food. From our earliest days in a church kitchen to the scale of our work today, volunteers have always been essential to our mission. They help prepare meals, assemble packages, support special programs, and bring energy and compassion to everything we do. Our volunteer community includes retirees, students, families, and corporate groups who give their time to care for neighbors facing serious illness.

In fiscal year 2025, volunteer participation grew by 40% to 5,814 individuals. Together, they worked 15,314 shifts and contributed 47,881 hours of service — the equivalent of approximately 26 full-time employees and an estimated value of $1.1 million in donated labor.

Community Partnerships

Project Angel Food works closely with more than 200 healthcare, social service, and community organizations to identify and serve clients in need. We also partner with major health plans through California’s CalAIM Community Supports initiative, helping integrate medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling into healthcare delivery. By fiscal year 2025, Community Supports clients represented 62% of our total client base, showing the growing recognition that medically tailored meals can improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

History

Project Angel Food was founded by Marianne Williamson during the height of the AIDS crisis in West Hollywood. It began in a church kitchen, where volunteers prepared and delivered meals to people living with HIV/AIDS who were too ill to care for themselves. In 2004, the organization expanded its mission to serve people living with a broader range of critical illnesses, including diabetes, cancer, heart failure, and kidney disease.

In 2007, Project Angel Food moved to its facility at 922 Vine Street. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for our services surged, and daily meal deliveries increased from about 1,500 to 2,500. On February 5, 2026, Project Angel Food held the grand opening of The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Kitchen and Campus, along with the S. Mark Taper Foundation Operations Center. This milestone marked an important new chapter in our history and expanded our capacity to nourish more people with medically tailored meals, care, and dignity.

Looking Ahead

As Los Angeles faces rising food costs, growing health inequities, and increasing need among older adults and people living with serious illness, Project Angel Food continues to grow in both scale and impact. We are now building the second building of The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Campus: the Community Outreach Center. This new space will provide expanded room for Client Services, Nutrition Services, Volunteer Services, and Administration.

The Community Outreach Center will also include a demonstration kitchen for client nutrition education, as well as a research and policy institute dedicated to driving data-driven improvements in our medically tailored meals and care. Through this work, we aim to inform public policy, strengthen the evidence behind Food Is Medicine, and help make medically tailored meals available to more people in need.