Ruth Brinker was a visionary and fought off ignorance and fear of HIV in the very early years of the disease. Few people get all my respect, but today I put in all with my thoughts of Ruth. RIP you lovely lady. I blow you a big kiss. A B
(B.A.R.) Ruth Brinker, the retired grandmother who in 1985 started delivering meals to people living with AIDS and went on to found Project Open Hand, died Monday, August 8 at the Eden Villa Assisted Living Facility in San Francisco. She was 89.
She died after a series of strokes and the effects of vascular illness, the agency said in a statement.
Ms. Brinker, who had retired from a career in food services, heard about a neighbor who had died of AIDS. She was shocked to discover that malnutrition was as much a cause of her neighbor’s death as the illness itself, and started preparing meals in her kitchen and delivering them to seven people, according to a statement on Project Open Hand’s website. Soon, of course, that number grew and others came to help her cook and deliver hot, nutritious meals throughout San Francisco.
Accidental Bear 