Project Bread donates to HIV/AIDS orgs

The anti-hunger organization Project Bread announced Oct. 25 that it had distributed more than $800,000 to 116 emergency food programs in the Metro Boston area, and three of those programs work to provide meals to people who are homebound due to HIV/AIDS. Project Bread distributed $15,000 to Community Servings, $8500 to the AIDS Action Committee and $5000 to Youth on Fire, a program of Cambridge Cares About AIDS.

Tim Leahy, a spokesperson for Community Servings, said the donation from Project Bread will translate into 3000 meals for their clients.

"It's an extraordinary amount of work getting done with that grant," said Leahy.

Community Servings, which recently moved from Roxbury into a new headquarters in Jamaica Plain, provides meals to people who are homebound due to illness as well as their dependents and caregivers. Leahy said about 70 percent of the meals they deliver are to people and their families impacted by HIV/AIDS. He said nearly all of their clients are at or below the poverty line and often have no support system to help them care for themselves.

Leahy said that every year demand for meals increases, and Project Bread has increased its own funding to Community Servings to meet that demand.

"We see demand increasing over time, so every year we're open we're seeing more and more need. ... A grant from Project Bread helps us sustain our program over time," said Leahy.