Ganga Stone (1941-2021, age 80). An American humanitarian and co‑founder of God’s Love We Deliver, a New York–based nonprofit that prepares and delivers medically tailored meals to individuals living with serious illness who are unable to cook for themselves. Her work in the mid‑1980s at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic transformed a simple act of bringing food to an ailing neighbor into a pioneering model of food‑as‑medicine and compassionate urban service. [Luce Index™ score: 93]
Born in the U.S., Ganga Stone came of age during a period of social upheaval and spiritual experimentation, eventually gravitating toward service rooted in both practical compassion and contemplative practice. She trained as a hospice volunteer, where she learned to accompany patients through the emotional, physical, and spiritual dimensions of terminal illness. This background prepared her to respond with unusual insight when HIV/AIDS first devastated communities in New York City.
In 1985, while volunteering with a hospice program, Stone visited an AIDS patient named Richard Sayles who was too ill to cook for himself. Recognizing that his struggle was not only medical but also nutritional, she arranged for a freshly prepared meal to be delivered to his home. A local minister, seeing the transformation that a single meal could bring, remarked that she was not only delivering food, but delivering “God’s love.” The phrase became both inspiration and name for the emerging organization God’s Love We Deliver.
From its earliest days, God’s Love We Deliver reflected Stone’s conviction that food must be tailored to the medical and cultural needs of each client. She insisted that meals be developed in consultation with registered dietitians and physicians, anticipating what is now widely known as the medically tailored meals model. Under her influence, menus were designed to support immune systems weakened by opportunistic infections, medication side effects, and the intense stigma that left many clients isolated and malnourished.
As the organization grew, Stone worked to embed a culture of volunteerism and radical inclusivity. Volunteers of diverse religious, ethnic, and professional backgrounds—ranging from corporate teams to student groups—joined the effort, united by the simple task of chopping vegetables, packaging meals, and delivering food throughout the city’s boroughs. This volunteer‑powered structure allowed God’s Love We Deliver to scale quickly while maintaining a sense of intimacy between clients and those who served them.
Though God’s Love We Deliver was born as an urgent response to AIDS, Stone understood that the need for nutritious meals extended beyond a single disease. As treatments for HIV improved and survival rates increased, she supported broadening the mission to include people living with cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other serious illnesses. This shift positioned the organization at the forefront of conversations about chronic illness, health equity, and the social determinants of health in New York City and beyond.
The legacy of Stone is visible in the institutional partnerships and high‑profile supporters the organization later attracted, including designers such as Michael Kors, major law firms, financial institutions, and community foundations. These alliances helped fund expanded kitchens, delivery fleets, and nutrition programs, but they also broadcast her original insight: that dignity in illness depends as much on nourishment and human connection as on medicine.
Although Ganga Stone has maintained a relatively low public profile compared to some philanthropic figures, her pioneering blend of hospice care, nutrition, and community organizing has influenced public health strategies around medically tailored meals nationwide. Health systems and policymakers now increasingly recognize that home‑delivered, clinically appropriate meals can reduce hospitalizations, improve quality of life, and lower healthcare costs for people with complex conditions—an approach that echoes her early work with a single patient in need.