This collection contains materials from Mama’s Kitchen, a volunteer-based meal delivery service for people with HIV and AIDS that was founded in 1990 by Laurie Leonard.

From the Mama’s Kitchen Website: Mama’s Kitchen was established in 1990 by Laurie Leonard a San Diego caregiver who enlisted volunteers to help prepare and deliver free meals to a few neighbors who were sick with AIDS and unable to get to the grocery store or cook food. During a time when little was known about this vicious disease, a caring community came together to ensure that those suffering were given a chance at life and were able to receive one of their most basic rights – the right to nutritious food. Since then, Mama’s Kitchen has grown into a service that provides three meals a day, free of charge, to our neighbors across San Diego County who are struggling with HIV/AIDS or cancer, and their dependent children. Since [their] beginning, Mama’s Kitchen has continuously evolved, responding to the needs of our community. In 2004, [they] opened a food pantry for low-income HIV positive residents. In 2006, Mama’s Kitchen expanded its mission to include meal delivery to those affected by cancer. Recently, [their] organization has hosted nutrition education workshops, provided emergency food assistance, and offered medical nutrition therapy to the community. Through [their] services, [they] were able to provide food, compassion and hope to over 1,300 people annually. In [their] 27 years of service, Mama’s Kitchen has delivered over eight million meals. [They] have never turned away a client eligible for our services – and [they] are determined that [they] never will.

0.75 linear feet

Open for research