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New Yorkers will know that the vast dome at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights always defied logic. Considered an engineering marvel, it was scrappily constructed with humble red brick tiles that spanned across the colossal gothic building, originally supported by just a single steel tension rod. New Yorkers will also know that great things are often born from strength, solidarity, and steely determination, such as the beloved God’s Love We Deliver organization, which celebrated its Golden Heart Awards at the historic church on Monday evening.
“It’s a full circle moment,” Michael Kors, the charity’s ardent supporter, told Vogue. “The organization started as a tiny grassroots movement on the west side uptown in the basement of a church. We thought this tipped the hat to how much it’s grown over the years; it started so small and now we’re able to celebrate all of the volunteers and staff in this kind of space.”
Equally as awe-inspiring and mind-blowing as the building’s scale—which is the length of two football fields—is the work and reach of the organization. Founded in 1985 as an immediate and urgent response to the AIDS epidemic, what began as one hospice worker taking hot food to a sick patient would eventually grow to become the city’s most prolific provider of medically-tailored meals. Having experienced tremendous growth since the pandemic, in the last fiscal year alone, God’s Love We Deliver has cooked and delivered 4.3 million meals to more than 16,000 clients and their kids and caregivers: an all-time record.
Receiving the Michael Kors Award for Outstanding Philanthropy, actress and NYC poster woman Sarah Jessica Parker praised the “extraordinary institution of good” adding, “From its inception in the midst of an unthinkable crisis, God’s Love We Deliver has shined its spotlight and focused all its will and resources on a community that was, and still is occasionally, ignored.” Parker also took her own moment in the spotlight to graciously turn the attention to Pat Costello, “a heartbeat” of the charity since she joined as a volunteer in 1991, and whose commitment to the cause has been integral to its success.
Following an emotive speech from Costello and galvanizing remarks by God’s Love We Deliver president and CEO David Ludwigson, who explained that the organization has doubled in size in the last five years and crucially needs funds to sustain this expansion, it was time for people to put their money where their mouth is. Spurred on by Harry Santa-Olalla, a frenetic paddle raise around the sold-out room amassed over $3 million—an unprecedented amount.
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