When I came to work at Colorado AIDS Project, I learned about real people who live with HIV, the struggles they face every day, and the feats they overcome. I learned about Lea Ann who began using Colorado AIDS Project's (CAP) Food Bank and Nutrition Program in 1996 when her HIV, along with other health issues, escalated to a point where she could no longer work. She relies on the Food Bank for vital nutritional items including meat, milk and eggs. Lea Ann gathers a sense of community at the Food Bank through friendly conversation with volunteers, like Cathy, who help fill her basket with fresh produce, canned vegetables and assorted hearty soups. Visiting CAP's Food Bank also allows her the ability to take care of other critical needs, like talking to her case manager about getting financial support for her medications. For Lea Ann, CAP's Food Bank provides more than the basic sustenance to live: it feeds her soul. Each month, Colorado AIDS Project helps feed hundreds of HIV-positive people who are living at or below the poverty line.

Colorado AIDS Project was founded in 1983 as the first community-wide response to the HIV/AIDS crisis that was devastating the Denver metro area. Today, they continue as the largest community based organization responding to the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis in Colorado and serve nearly 1,800 individuals annually. Through our Food Bank program, we offer our clients - at no cost to them - groceries that meet the specific nutritional needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. To qualify, these individuals must make less than $1,064 per month. With much of that money being eaten up by the high cost of housing, medical care and medications, they have little money to spend on food. It is because of CAP's Food Bank that they are able to ensure that there is food on the table for them and their families.

In 2006, CAP's Food Bank served 955 clients in over 13,260 visits, resulting in an estimated 92,848 meals provided. People living with HIV have higher daily caloric needs than people without HIV do - as many as 3,500 to 5,000 calories per day can be required to maintain the body's struggle against HIV infection. To ensure a wide variety of food choices while responding to these complex nutritional needs, the Food Bank staff and volunteers work diligently to secure food at reduced rates from a diverse number of vendors. Through these efforts and the generosity of corporate donors of in-kind food to the Food Bank such as Johnson and Wales Culinary School, Whole Foods and Starbucks, CAP is able to deliver these meals at a cost to the organization that is on average $1.18 per meal. As the number of women and children affected by this epidemic has grown, CAP has worked to expand the kinds of goods it provides to clients to include personal hygiene products, baby food and diapers.

Another key component to the Food Bank is the nutritional education given to the clients. Now they are empowered, with their bags of groceries in hand, to know how to take care of themselves. Good nutrition serves as a cornerstone to improved mental and emotional health, not to mention supporting the physical health required to live with a life-threatening illness. Through collaboration with Denver Health's HIV/AIDS Dietician, we offer group cooking and nutrition classes specifically geared to those living with HIV and AIDS. Through this nutrition education emphasis, CAP hopes to enable their most financially needy clients to make better food choices and increase their quality of life.

Through my work with CAP and my interactions with the clients and wonderful staff and volunteers that assist them, I have seen the difference this program makes. People committed to living a healthy life with HIV receive food, education, support and most importantly nourishment for their souls...and so did I.