A passionate decision to help people remains the root of Open Hand Atlanta’s commitment to assisting Georgians in need of nourishment. That spark fueled three decades of growth that have seen the nonprofit become one of the nation’s largest meal delivery providers, according to its executive director Matt Pieper.
“One of the things I’m really proud of is our entrepreneurial spirit here at Open Hand because we’re rebels, and everything we do is bucking the system in many ways,” he told the AJC.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
‘We need to show these individuals love’
Open Hand’s founder, Michael Edwards-Pruitt, now retired from the organization, saw a need to feed people in the Atlanta area who had AIDS.
“He was horrified about the treatment that people with AIDS received often,” Pieper said. “They were, oftentimes, ostracized. The stigma of the disease was so strong. People were oftentimes thrown out of their houses or fired from their jobs or left isolated. It was at a time back in 1988 when there really weren’t any treatments for HIV disease, and a diagnosis typically was a death sentence, and Michael and his friends got together and said, ‘This is not right. We need to show these individuals love.’”
The effort, which was first known as Project Open Hand, began out of Edwards-Pruitt’s home with friends delivering meals, Pieper said, adding that 35 years later, it boasts a fleet of refrigerated trucks, 120 employees, and a database with 14,000 volunteers. The organization, he explained, now serves adults of all ages, but seniors make up a large portion of today’s recipients with meals designed to increase food security and target health needs.
“The menus are specifically tailored to meet the health conditions of our seniors and adults of all ages,” Pieper said. “So, if someone has cancer, someone has HIV, someone has diabetes or renal failure, we can help them better manage their health conditions — or even overcome them sometimes — through the right kind of nutrition and nutrition counseling … When I think about our willingness to enter into the senior meal market 25 years ago, we did it in a very bold way. We didn’t want to be the typical home-delivered meal agency.”
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
A sustainable mission
Some said the effort wouldn’t be sustainable because the focus was — and still is — on fresh food. The organization uses no preservatives or canned goods, Pieper said, which does make meals more expensive.
“There was a lot of doubt (about) whether Open Hand’s mission would be sustainable because the food we purchase is grade A,” he said. “Everything we do is top quality.”
Growth has proven critics wrong over the years, and Open Hand currently feeds 5,000 people a day out of its Midtown kitchen and has plans to expand out from its current Atlanta and metro service area to other areas across the state as a meal provider for managed care organizations, senior-centered programs, and health plans, Pieper said. Current partners through which recipients qualify include county senior services, hospitals and home health providers, and recipients can put Medicaid waivers toward meals, he explained, but there are cost coverage gaps.
Good Measure Meals, Open Hand’s social enterprise, allows the paying public to purchase meals, and 100% of those net proceeds support the community nutrition programs. Today, customers’ online orders arrive on their doorsteps, Pieper said, and every two Good Measure meals provide a meal to someone who can’t afford one.
From the efforts of its chefs and dieticians to those of its volunteers, Open Hand’s message is still a heartfelt one.
“We love the fact that when our volunteers and our staff deliver the meals, it’s always with a warm smile. That’s the ‘food is love’ part of our mission,” Pieper said. “If you want to show somebody that you care, bring them a meal.”
Get involved: To inquire about Good Measure Meals or volunteerism, visit openhandatlanta.org.
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