SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Things start bustling early at Mama's Kitchen, and it's a race against time while maintaining the highest food standards.
“They work together as a team. They're a great team,” customer Jerry Okie said.
More than 900 volunteers show up every week, working together to prepare 15,000 meals for San Diego's most vulnerable residents, like Jerry Oakey.
You wouldn't know it from his infectious laugh and positive attitude, but Jerry has a lot of work to do.
About three years ago, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and has since suffered from a number of other health issues.
“My health insurance introduced me to Mama's Kitchen,” Oakey said.
Jerry needed to change the structure of his diet and was worried about the cost. He was very surprised to find out that all the meals from Mama's His Kitchen were free.
“It's such good food they provided,” Oakey said.
Since 1990, Mama's Kitchen has provided medically tailored meals to people facing serious illnesses such as cancer and HIV.
The Food is Medicine Coalition has established a set of standards to ensure consistent quality standards across the board for providers of medically tailored meals.
“Mama's Kitchen voluntarily underwent this independent assessment to determine the extent to which our processes truly meet our high quality standards,” said Eva Matthews, CEO of Mama's Kitchen. Ta.
The company is the second medically tailored meal provider in the country to receive this certification and is encouraging other professional meal providers to take the lead in similar initiatives.
“It's not a small job as it will take about six months and it will require an external audit, so it's a tough undertaking,” Matthews said.
But for the folks at Mama's Kitchen, that effort doesn't go unnoticed…creating community connections with every meal.
“Let's go to Mama's Kitchen!” Thank you! “Okey said.
To volunteer at Mama's Kitchen, visit Mama's Kitchen's website at mamaskitchen.org.
