The Sussexes Deliver Meals with Project Angel Food & Harry Champions WellChild Families

I'm popping in with a short post about ways Harry and Meghan are embracing efforts to support the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, we discussed news that profits from Harry and Meghan's BBC wedding broadcast would be donated to Feeding Britain - a charity the couple learned more about firsthand during a visit to Birkenhead last year. Last night it emerged they have been helping on the ground in Los Angeles, delivering much needed meals to the vulnerable after hearing about Project Angel Food's vital work through Meghan's mother, Doria.

People reports:

“They actually did two deliveries for us — one on Easter Sunday and one on Wednesday — and they’ve done it quietly,” Richard Ayoub, Project Angel Food’s executive director, tells PEOPLE. “We’re completely honored.”

“They were extremely down to earth and genuinely interested in every single person they met,” Ayoub continues. “They engaged with our chefs, they engaged with clients — they just wanted to make sure that people felt the love and appreciation. Their goal was really to just honor our chefs and staffs and volunteers by being of service.”

“What Meghan said is she wanted to show Harry Los Angeles through the eyes of philanthropy. It’s just beautiful,” he adds. “There’s obviously a great deal of love and selflessness between them. They both are individuals who want to know about others. Our clients are clients who are often forgotten. They really wanted to go visit these people. They wanted to see them and talk to them and hopefully put a smile on their faces.”

A statement from Project Angel Food.

Omid Scobie writes:

'When Dan Tyrell received a delivery of prepared meals from Project Angel Food for himself and neighbor Becky Lincoln, who has type 1 diabetes, on Wednesday, he thought he recognized the masked volunteers dropping off the food. “I thought that tall red-headed guy looked pretty familiar, and that girl was pretty,” the West Hollywood local commented.

Moments later, after a glimpse of the nearby security guards and black SUVs, it clicked: The couple standing at his Los Angeles apartment complex was none other than Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan.

“They told us they heard our drivers were overloaded and wanted to volunteer to lighten the drivers’ workload,” Project Angel Food’s executive director, Richard Ayoub, told WEHOville, a local news site serving the West Hollywood community. “It’s really, really amazing. We loved having them and they are the most down-to-earth people.

A source close to the Sussexes tells BAZAAR.com, “In many places, volunteers—which are needed now more than ever—are serving incredibly long hours to support others. The couple is grateful for all of those volunteers, and inspired by the frontline workers, essential workers, and people everywhere who are committed to responding to needs of their communities in this crisis.”

A tweet from a fiend of a lady who received their food from the Duke and Duchess.

Project Angel Food was launched thirty years ago by a group of volunteers who were deeply concerned about those in the community battling HIV/AIDS. As time passed they expanded their service to any person battling severe illness and today they deliver over 600,000 nutritious meals free of charge. Their "tailored meals and nutritional counseling services help chronically and terminally ill people throughout Los Angeles County" who are too sick to shop or cook for themselves. COVID-19 has stretched their services and changed the demand they and so many other organisations are facing. If you would like to find out more or donate please click here.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry checked in on his patronage WellChild via Zoom, speaking with families and staff during a thirty-minute call. Harry praised them as "superparents" adding: "This is hard on everyone but it is especially hard on you." It's an unimaginably difficult time for the charitable sector and Harry very much drew attention to that and the increasing difficulty for families right now. Harry continued: "Of course, there are going to be hard days. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it is for you guys, having just one kid myself - an 11-month-old - so to see what you are doing on a day-to-day basis, I have so much respect for every single one of you."

The Guardian reports:

'More than 100,000 children and young people in the UK have serious health needs. Colin Dyer, the WellChild CEO, told Harry: “These families are always isolated and hidden. Now they are more isolated and hidden than ever before. Getting recognition that they are amongst the most vulnerable people is really tough, because the focus isn’t on families like this.”

Leanne Cooper, 37, from Lincoln, has a daughter, Sophie, 13, who has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair, has multiple medical needs and has a tracheostomy and so is on a ventilator. She told Harry: “It’s terrifying.” Sophie needs care “24 hours a day, seven days a week”. With the virus and lockdown, “I can’t really put into words how scary it is,” she said.

She and her husband, Craig, have three daughters and must shield. As the manager of Sophie’s care package, she also has to make sure that there are protective measures to safeguard Sophie’s care workers, which is stressful. “If we’re in a position where carers can’t come to work because they might be symptomatic, there is no way we would survive,” she said. “And if we had no care, I don’t know where we would be.”

More on the conversation from Omid Scobie:

'For Craig Hatch, who cares for his 21-year-old son Fraser, who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, neuromuscular scoliosis, osteoporosis, a chronic lung disorder and type 1 diabetes, the entire family are working together to make his care plan work as they can’t take the risk of letting a carer visit the home. “We are frightened, because we know that if the virus gets in our house, and if Fraser contracts the virus, the implications are quite severe,” the 55-year-old said, noting that even he recently had to self-isolate from the family for seven days after experiencing some of the symptoms of the coronavirus.

Though he has a full-time job, Craig and his wife, Elizabeth, dedicate several hours each morning and evening to help Fraser, as well as give ongoing support throughout the day. And while they have friends helping with the delivery of medication, the couple continue to worry about supplies being available. “It’s tough,” he said of their daily challenges, which include “the feeling of isolation and combination of tiredness.”

The team behind Archie Day, a campaign raising much needed funds for charities in celebration of Archie's first birthday, have added WellChild to their chosen organisations benefiting from donations. To donate please click here. I understand the effort has already raised over $30,000.