About
Delivering with Dignity Orange County was launched on June 24, 2020, as an emergency response to the healthcare and economic crisis created by the novel coronavirus and has grown exponentially in its effort to help the most vulnerable and isolated individuals in Orange County. Through partnerships with locally-owned restaurants, leading nonprofit agencies, and private corporations, the program delivers meals directly to the doorsteps of residents, keeps dozens of restaurant staff employed.
Simultaneous to feeding those in need, Delivering with Dignity is supporting the economically devastated restaurant industry by providing supplemental revenue through the meal program. The beauty of the program is that these are not emergency meals or cold sandwiches, these are balanced, nutritious meals prepared with tremendous heart from our culinary team and partner restaurants.
Delivering with Dignity is working with numerous non-profit partners to identify individual recipients who need the program based on “Triple Threat” criteria: 1) At highest risk for COVID-19 per CDC guidelines; 2) Ineligible or not served by any community organization for the provision of food to their homes; 3) Financially unable to meet their food needs without leaving their home, and do not have a reliable support system of friends or family to assist.
Meals are delivered by “Food Hero” volunteers who abide by strict health and social distancing guidelines and follow routes developed by groundbreaking food delivery logistics technology from Copia, a San Francisco-based technology & logistics company whose infrastructure redistributes edible excess food to shelters and food pantries in 270 cities to reduce hunger and food waste across North America.
Delivering with Dignity Orange County was founded by Daniel Kim, Co-founder and Board Chair of The Dragon Kim Foundation. He is also a Private Equity Investor & Entrepreneur • Jack Toan, a highly respected and visible community leader in Orange County through his role as Vice President and Community Relations Manager at Wells Fargo & Company. He is also the President of the UCI Alumni Association • Valerie Fryer, an Experienced Finance Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry. She is a strong finance professional skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Budgeting, Coaching, Volunteer Management, and Team Building • Karen Williams, President and CEO of 2‐1‐1 Orange County (211OC), which links Orange County’s most vulnerable with health and human service resources. Karen brings to this leadership position 30+ years of experience in both public and the private sector working with Fortune 500 companies in the areas of general management, business development, marketing, account service and finance • Bronnie Lee, a respected entrepreneur and restauranteur in Orange County with over 30 years of experience in the food industry, developing and managing successful organizations.
Program leaders ask community members to support the effort through financial contributions and by becoming Food Hero volunteers.