COUNTYWIDE : ‘Meals for People’ Is Realizing a Dream

A year ago, Richard Cholewa was lying in a hospital bed recuperating from quadruple-bypass open-heart surgery. As he recovered, he began to re-evaluate his life and wondered if, at 56, he had made any lasting contributions to society.

It was during this time that the Orange resident decided to launch Meals for People, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supplying funds to soup kitchens throughout Southern California.

“I felt that there was a reason why I was still here,” said Cholewa, who suffered a heart attack just before the operation and a second one during surgery. “I feel just fantastic now and realize that the reason I’m still here is to help my fellow man.”

During its first three months, Meals for People has raised about $15,000 by collecting money in red, white and blue containers placed in about 1,500 stores throughout Orange County, including 19 Vons supermarkets.

“We’ve had tremendous cooperation from retailers, particularly the mom-and-pop type businesses,” Cholewa said.

The timing is right for organizations like Meals for People, which he said cuts through a lot of governmental red tape and gives money directly to soup kitchens.

“Government funding for soup kitchens has not increased in five years and, in some cases, has decreased,” Cholewa said. “As a result, the number of people who need assistance has doubled. That’s why it’s important for private organizations, like ours, to raise money and offset the decrease. Without groups like ours, soup kitchens would be in a lot of trouble.”

John Lands, executive director of the Orange County Rescue Mission in Santa Ana, agreed.

“The one commodity we’re always short on is money, which we need to buy food,” said Lands, whose soup kitchen serves about 300 people each day. “We don’t get any government funding at all so we really appreciate Meals for People. We wish there were more groups like them.”

For Cholewa, getting Meals for People off the ground was the realization of a dream that originated in 1986. Back then, he attempted to start the organization, but legal problems prevented it from progressing. Until his illness, the plans remained in limbo.

“I had always planned on trying to start it up again, but I’m not so sure I ever really would have if I hadn’t gotten sick,” Cholewa said.

Grants given so far have ranged from $500 to $1,100. The Orange County kitchens that have received funds so far include: Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa, Orange County Rescue Mission in Santa Ana and El Modena Soup Kitchen in Orange. Kitchens in Riverside and San Bernardino counties have also received funding.

Cholewa said distributing funds to Southern California soup kitchens is only the beginning. He would like to expand the organization’s efforts across the state and, eventually, across the country.

“If the lord is willing and keeps me healthy, I believe it will happen.”