Mama's Kitchen's History
In 1990 volunteers from the AIDS Assistance Fund discovered that people with AIDS were dying from complications of malnutrition long before their immune systems were overcome by AIDS-related infections. Many were low-income and too ill, isolated or emotionally devastated to help themselves. Mama’s Kitchen was established as a San Diego nonprofit organization to offer nutrition support by way of a home meal delivery service. Since then Mama’s Kitchen has prepared and delivered three nourishing meals a day, every day of the year, to the men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in San Diego County.
The Family Grocery Bag Program was created in 1997 to serve parents of underage, dependent children living at home that are HIV-positive, but do not have AIDS. Once a week, a bag of groceries is delivered to their homes to help as a supplement to their household groceries.
The Children’s Nutritional Health Program was created when we discovered that parents with AIDS were sharing their meals from Mama’s Kitchen with their children. Because these parents were too sick to cook meals for their families, they were deprived of the badly-needed nutrition to help fight their illness, and their children were being malnourished.
In 2007 we supplied over 34,000 meals to 66 children who needed and deserved our helping hand, including 46 children ages 13-and-under.
Mama’s Pantry opened it’s doors in February of 2004 to their clients who do not need home meal deliveries, but can benefit from an occasional hand to maintain their health and stretch their food budgets. Once a month, clients can visit Mama’s Pantry and select their own non-perishable items such as cereals, pastas and canned goods from a wide selection. It has also become a place where clients can meet others who are dealing with many of the same issues.
In February of 2006 Mama's Kitchen took a big step by expanding its services to people with critical illnesses. Called the Critical Illness Nutrition Program, this expansion makes home-delivered meals available to people under age 60 who are living with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other critical illness that makes food preparation a challenge.
Since our first day of operations, we have never turned away anyone needing our help and we are determined that we never will.
Mama’s Kitchen, Inc. is a San Diego nonprofit, tax exempt 501(c)3 charity organization.
