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Things are heating up at Project Angel Food.
The meal delivery service for critically ill people in Los Angeles will celebrate the grand opening of the first building of The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Kitchen & Campus with a ceremony on Feb. 5. Speakers will include Lorre, Project Angel Food’s “Rise to the Challenge” Capital Campaign co-chair Jamie Lee Curtis and the organization’s CEO Richard Ayoub.
The opening will unveil the first building of Project Angel Food’s future two-building campus, expanding its footprint from 922 Vine St. to 960 Vine St. in Hollywood. The opening marks a major milestone in the organization’s $51.5 million, multi-year expansion campaign.
“This new building represents hope, growth and the next chapter of our mission, so we can nourish our most vulnerable neighbors today, tomorrow and for decades to come. Thanks to our partners, donors and community leaders, we are expanding our capacity and strengthening our ability to respond when our community needs us most,” said Richard Ayoub, CEO of Project Angel Food. “Thanks to transformative gifts from The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation and the S. Mark Taper Foundation, we’re opening this kitchen today — instead of still trying to figure out how to make it possible.”
Additional guests at the opening will include Edward James Olmos; Los Angeles artist Robert Vargas, whose mural “Nourishing the Community” spans the south side of the new building; L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath; and S. Mark Taper Foundation president Amelia Taper Bolker.
The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Kitchen & Campus more than doubles Project Angel Food’s culinary footprint, expanding from approximately 7,700 square feet to 16,000 square feet. The new kitchen increases hot cook lines from one to three, expanding annual capacity from 1.5 million meals to the ability to produce more than 4.5 million meals each year and the ability to in one day serve more than 10,000 people annually across Los Angeles County. The expansion also significantly increases core equipment and infrastructure — including ovens, burners and blast chillers — calibrated to support the growing need for medically tailored meals.
The S. Mark Taper Foundation Operations Center includes the expansion of the walk-in freezer space from about 1,670 square feet to 3,350 square feet; the dry storage grew from 450 square feet to 1,200 square feet; and packing and distribution areas have increased from 900 square feet to 2,200 square feet. These significant upgrades allow Project Angel Food to shift from maintaining a two-day frozen meal reserve to approximately a three-week supply, helping protect clients from service disruptions caused by disasters, pandemics and economic shocks.
The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Kitchen and Campus also includes the Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest Kitchen Volunteer Center, dedicated to Richard Frank and George Lowe.
Construction on the second building is expected to begin next summer, with completion anticipated by the end of 2027.
English (US) ·