Mayor John Hickenlooper helped celebrate a community milestone at Project Angel Heart by volunteering in the agency’s kitchen to commemorate 3 million meals delivered to adults and children coping with life-threatening illness, on August 15, 2009. To mark the 3 millionth meal milestone, Mayor Hickenlooper dished up and packaged meals for the agency’s clients.

"Project Angel Heart provides an invaluable service to our community. Not only do they deliver nutritious meals, but they also supply an unimaginable amount of hope and peace of mind during people’s deepest times of need,” said Hickenlooper. “We congratulate them on serving their 3 millionth meal and look forward to many, many more.”

Project Angel Heart got its start in 1991 when founder Charles Robbins returned home to Denver, after living in Los Angeles, to find friends with HIV/AIDS wasting away from malnutrition. That fall, he founded Project Angel Heart, modeling it after Project Angel Food, a similar organization in Los Angeles.

With a donated pan of lasagna from Racines restaurant and a group of dedicated friends, Robbins coordinated the delivery of Project Angel Heart’s first meals to its first 12 clients, free of charge. Since 1991, Project Angel Heart has expanded its services to deliver meals to clients living within 750 square-miles of metro Denver and 150 square-miles of Colorado Springs. This year, the agency will serve nearly 1,700 clients battling life-threatening illness with the support of more than 3,000 dedicated volunteers and a host of community supporters.

“The milestone of delivering our three millionth meal is, not just an agency milestone, but a community achievement,” says Erin Pulling, Project Angel Heart’s Executive Director. “From day one, volunteers have dedicated countless hours preparing and delivering meals, and community members have helped fund our program so that each meal is provided free of charge,” said Pulling.

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