To All Who Support St. Vincent Meals on Wheels: Food for Thought FROM SISTER ALICE MARIE

SAM Welcome to the family!
I invite you to spend a few minutes touring our new website. You’ll see firsthand the everyday miracles that St. Vincent Meals on Wheels provides for the frail, hungry and homebound of Los Angeles.

We’ve been delivering food and love for 30 years, but we couldn’t do it without caring people like you who believe—as we do—that every frail senior and seriously ill adult who cannot shop or cook deserves a daily hot meal delivered to their door.

Thank you and God bless you for your support.
Sister Alice Marie Quinn, D.C.

Founder and Executive Director

Did you know that "Friends are great big hugs from God?" When we think of all the Friends we have at the American Wine and Food Festival and the Friends at the Puck-Lazaroff Foundation, there are enough hugs to go into each tiny apartment, each cluttered apartment, and the dark and cheerless rooms at the downtown hotels as well as the neat little houses in the older section of Los Angeles. You are the Friends, the ones who make our service, our hugs, possible. We again thank you for caring enough to send your very best! God bless you and know you are "hugged" by all of us and by God himself!

God Bless You!

Sister Alice Marie D.C.
Executive Director, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels

The Meal’s on the Table, No Matter What
Our mission is to provide hot, nutritious meals to those unable to leave their homes due to illness or advanced age. Once the menu is planned, food purchased, and cooking completed, it’s time to deliver—no matter what! Our mission isn’t complete until the meal is on the senior’s table!

Getting 1,200 meals on the table each day can have its challenges. Sometimes our meal delivery runners have to get creative. Some climb the fence (balancing the tray and a carton of milk) to get to the front door. One runner keeps dog biscuits to tempt noisy dogs away from the house, so he can get to the front porch and ring the bell.

Another runner has to outrun a neighbor’s noisy “watch goose” who bites. And yet another runner catches a key thrown out of a client’s second floor window so he can get in and take her meal to her bedside. When it rains and the wind blows, even a runner who is wet from head to toe will dash up three flights of stairs for a hungry senior.

And once we get to a senior’s home, we do what it takes to help them enjoy their meals—by pushing their wheelchairs to the table or even washing spoons and forks.

No matter what the challenges, the special requests, or the weather, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels delivers right to each senior’s table. We’ve been doing it for 22 years and with your continued support, we’ll keep on—no matter what!

Peace, prayers and love,

Sister Alice Marie, D.C.
Executive Director, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels

On Turning 65!
On June 15, 2000, I turned 65 and became a senior citizen!

At Mass that morning, Psalm 65 was entitled “Thanksgiving to God for all His blessings.” Needless to say, I know God was speaking to me on that happy morning. And I thanked God for the many years He has filled me with His blessings—years that have come and gone so very quickly.

On my birthday, I also took time to reflect on the lives of our clients—what the years have taught them and what they can teach me. Many of their lives are filled with hardship, yet they exhibit a quiet patience and acceptance. When we knock on their front doors, they greet us with gentleness and gratitude.

Many of our meal-delivery runners are young people and our clients encourage them to finish school, to reach out for their dreams, to keep trying even if life seems hard. Our clients have a practical wisdom, and they so generously share with us what they have learned.

I especially admire the trust and confidence that our clients have placed in us. They allow us into their homes and their lives every day. I pray that we never do anything to jeopardize their trust because I learn something from them each time our paths cross.

Now that I am a senior citizen, I feel that I belong to a very special group of individuals. I will try each day to follow in their footsteps.

God Bless You!

Sister Alice Marie D.C.
Executive Director, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels

The Power of One
Someone recently said to me that another person “had this power thing.” Lately, it seems the word “power” has taken on a negative connotation. But take a minute to think of all the good we accomplish with our power.

Webster defines power as energy, strength, force. He calls a power structure “a group of people having control over an organization.” Well then, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels is a power structure and proud of it!

Thanks to the power of love, our volunteers and staff have the energy to deliver the right meal to each client every day. They make sure Anna doesn’t get tomato sauce (too acidic for her), that Ralph’s food is pureed (so he can swallow it easily after his stroke) and that Grace gets the baked chicken breast she wants every day (until she changes her mind).

Thanks to the power of good nutrition and friendly visits, our clients gain strength in their bodies as well as their souls.

Thanks to your compassion, you’re the driving force behind all this power. Without your support, it would be impossible to continue providing our increasing number of clients with daily bread.

Yes, I believe that power is a positive thing and that our staff, our volunteers, our clients and YOU are a part of a dynamic power structure. Thank you for supporting this powerful mission!

God Bless You!

Sister Alice Marie, D.C.
Executive Director, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels