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Chicken Soup Brigade still working and caring
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| Chicken Soup Brigade still working and caring | ||
| by Shaun Knittel -
SGN Staff Writer One year ago, Robin Langdale told Lifelong AIDS Alliance (LLAA) executives he no longer required the Chicken Soup Brigade's (CSB) service. The organization feeds hundreds each week with bags of groceries, fresh meals and soup. These meals are an important part of maintaining the health of people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-challenging illnesses. Langdale, HIV positive for 23 years, utilized the service when he felt he needed it, and terminated it when he felt he did not. "The economy is hitting everyone hard," Langdale wrote in an e-mail to LLAA executives last month. "I stopped using the grocery and meal service because I had been given generous amounts of food and since I no longer needed it I did not want to be taking from someone who really needed it. Well, I need it now and I am told by my case manager there is a waiting list, which we proceeded to put me on." Langdale said he was emotionally devastated and hurt. "I have never felt so rejected and turned away by my own community," he said. Langdale is not alone. He shares a list with 228 clients currently not receiving CSB assistance. The average wait time is 12 weeks. Unfortunately, said Director of Chicken Soup Brigade Nutrition Services Patrick Schultz, there is little they can do because the need for assistance has outgrown donations. People are living longer with HIV/AIDS, Schultz told SGN. "That is a great thing, but it's changed the role of CSB from a short-term need to a long-term program." People need us indefinitely, he said. "We contacted Mr. Langdale and spoke with him at length," Schultz told SGN. "His decision to stop using our service a year ago so that others may benefit is admirable. We're sorry for his present difficult situation and we hear that he feels hurt and disappointed." Additionally, the pool of clients CSB feed continues to grow. According to LLAA Director of Marketing and Events Asia Rau, CSB is currently serving more people than at any time in its 25-year history. Thousands benefit from the food program every month. "To cut costs and maintain quality services - and feed more people - during these tough economic times, LLAA eliminated positions, limited our hours of operation, and conducted program specific cost-cutting measures such as eliminating expensive menu items from our prepared meal program," Rau told SGN. "At some point we would love to bring back the pot roast and mashed potatoes, but for now were are concerned with feeding as many people as possible." "Our hope is that we can move clients through the waitlist and onto food services as quickly as possible," Schultz said. "As space on the program becomes available, please know that we quickly make resources available to those in greatest need on the list." Even though federal funding for food services to people with HIV/AIDS in King County shrank by 20% in the past year, CSB is bracing for an anticipated 50% reduction in stating funding next month. That puts CSB in a bind, say officials, as the organization relies heavily on donations from the community in their effort to sustain the program. "We continuously reach out to donors, event attendees and the public to explain what CSB does for clients," said Rau. "We just completed Dining Out for Life April 30, which will greatly benefit CSB as well as LLAA as a whole." Still, its not enough, said Schultz. "I don't want to say we need more from the community [Capitol Hill] because they are already so supportive - be we can always use a little more." The public can help by donating directly to CSB, officials said. "You can help by participating in Care to Shop through our grocery store partners as a volunteer or shopper, set up a food drive at your work, school, or church," said Rau. The Chicken Soup Brigade's range of responsibility is all-encompassing. The organization not only feeds; they inform. CSB provides nutrition support for people in need throughout a four-county area that includes King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap. Depending on clients' eligibility, officials told SGN, clients receive a bag of frozen, prepared meals once per week, and/or a bag of groceries. Schultz said the clients who are mobile can pick up their food at one of several pickup centers. Housebound clients receive delivery. If you get down to everything that CSB does, it quickly becomes clear just how much the organization is in need of volunteers and donations. On a weekly basis, CSB provides over 1,000 bags of groceries, distribute 4,500 meals through a pick-up center and the home delivery program - plus, it takes 80 volunteers to deliver groceries and meals to CSB homebound clients. "We don't want to have a waiting list," said Rau. "But this is to make sure our limited resources go to those who are most in need, therefore we have a list, which we prioritize according to the sickest and poorest people first." CSB and LLAA have many opportunities to volunteer or donate. For more information you can visit their website at www.LLAA.org. |
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