San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, July 23, 2005
Suzanne Pullen, Chronicle Staff Writer

How she started: Brinker was a retired grandmother in 1985, helping out at a meals-on-wheels program, when a friend died of AIDS. She soon realized that the ravages of the little-understood virus had weakened its victims so much that malnutrition was causing many to die before the illness did. "Most of them were gay men who had fled their families elsewhere," said Brinker. "They didn't have anyone to care for them." She called a social worker she knew and got the names of seven people she could help. With $2,000 from the San Francisco Zen Center and the Golden Gate Business Association, she started Project Open Hand, making the first simple meals in her kitchen. "After the first delivery, I felt I should have asked for 20 names," she said. "They were so grateful." Within a few months, Project Open Hand moved into San Francisco's Trinity Episcopal Church and volunteers began helping as word of the project spread. In 1987, with a $125,000 donation from the Chevron Corporation, the nonprofit organization moved into a new kitchen and took over a food bank at 17th and Church streets. By 1988, Project Open Hand was serving 500 meals a day. The ground shook, literally, when it expanded meal service into Alameda County in 1989 -- the day of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Two years later, Project Open Hand served its millionth meal.

And now: Project Open Hand provides meals, groceries and nutritional counseling for clients with HIV and AIDS, delivers meals to critically ill and homebound clients under the age of 60, and provides lunches at 21 San Francisco sites for seniors. In 2004, its client list reached 30,000; more than 800 people are served by a second kitchen that opened in Oakland in 1996. Project Open Hand moved into its current facility on Polk Street in 1997. This year, the organization served its 9 millionth meal and distributed its millionth grocery bag. Its 20th anniversary will be celebrated in October.

Her inspiration: "All those people inspired me to go on," said Brinker of the meal recipients. "They said what a contribution it was making to their lives. But it was really a benefit to me. It gave me a great deal of satisfaction to help in this way."

Her vitals: Brinker, 83, was born in South Dakota but spent many years in Chicago, where she attended the Chicago Art Institute. She moved to California in the mid 1950s and has two daughters, Sara and Lisa, who also live in San Francisco. Her daughter Lisa says that she once owned an antique store and wrote a column on pets for The Chronicle.

Who has had the most impact: Brinker said she will never forget one of her first meal recipients. She rang his doorbell, but got no answer. "He kept me waiting," said Brinker. "I thought he was home. I knew he couldn't leave the house, but he wasn't answering the door." She rang the bell several more times before she was buzzed in. When she climbed up to his second floor apartment, she saw the door ajar. "He was on the floor. He had crawled to the buzzer, but didn't have the strength to get back to bed." A week of meals later, he was sitting in the sun on the steps outside, waiting for Brinker. "He said I saved his life," she said. "He told me how much the program meant."

In her own words: "My friends thought I was crazy at first, exposing myself to people with this illness. But I wasn't afraid. It was impossible for these people to prepare their own meals, let alone go to the grocery store. Now, all the volunteers, all the people who have helped, have gotten so much out of it. They see the people getting better. It gives them satisfaction to make a difference in someone's life."

What others have to say about her: "She wasn't afraid to be around people with AIDS at a time when no one was helping," said Fernando Castillo, Project Open Hands' first chef. Castillo began volunteering in 1986, after Brinker called to offer meal delivery for five friends who were living with him after they contracted the virus. Soon he was cooking meals for the program and spent 10 years as the staff chef. Brinker "opened the door to so many people who were ignorant about the disease," said Castillo, who has AIDS. "In the beginning people didn't understand what she was doing. There weren't enough volunteers, not enough money. She would say, 'Let's go see what we can get from the vendors.' They could never say no to her. She changed everything -- with her caring, her love and her food. That's what Project Open Hand is all about."

To find out more: Call (415) 447-2300 or visit www.openhand.org..

Editor's note: On July 13, a fire damaged Brinker's Bernal Heights home, displacing her and her daughter Sara. Project Open Hand is working with Brinker's family to deal with the loss. To contribute, send a check to The Ruth Brinker Fire Relief Fund, c/o First Republic Bank, 101 Pine Street, San Francisco, CA, 94111. Or to write to Ruth Brinker, contact her at: Brinker c/o Project Open Hand, 730 Polk St., San Francisco, CA, 94109.

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Each week, The Chronicle features a Bay Area resident who has won a Jefferson Award for making a difference in his or her community. The awards are administered by the American Institute for Public Service, a national foundation established in 1972 to honor community service. Bay Area residents profiled in The Chronicle will also be featured on CBS5-TV and KCBS-AM, which -- along with The Chronicle -- are Jefferson Award media partners.
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