For Suzanne McMahon and Steve Alexander, Move for Meals was a wonderful way to reconnect. The two former coworkers last worked together at Food & Friends over 20 years ago, but they remained devoted to the mission of helping neighbors living with serious illnesses and their families receive free, medically tailored meals, groceries, and nutrition counseling.
Suzanne started as a volunteer at Food & Friends when the organization primarily served individuals living with HIV/AIDS. She cites “the magnitude” of Food & Friends’ impact in the early days with the disease’s stigma, remembering delivering to someone who “was living in their garage because their family didn’t want them in the house because they had HIV.” She began working as an administrative assistant in 1993 and rose to the director of development and marketing.
“It was a big, big part of my life,” Suzanne said of Food & Friends. “It feels like family. I’m really proud of my time there and the work I did.”
Steve started in 1997 overseeing the AIDS Ride and eventually became the director of corporate giving and events.
“It’s just a special place for me,” Steve said.
After both leaving Food & Friends around 2004, Suzanne and Steve stayed connected to the mission by selling pies through the Slice of Life fundraiser. When they heard about Move for Meals, our signature fundraising and fitness challenge, they were immediately excited about the potential.
“This was a great opportunity for us to connect to each other again,” Steve said.
The long-distance friends – Steve lives in Seattle and Suzanne is in New Jersey – created a Move for Meals team and committed to walking 10,000 steps a day. Soon the competitive duo were texting constantly about who was more active, sending screenshots of their step counts and ultimately walking about 12,000 steps a day. Each day’s step count was a reminder of the impact they were making for someone living with a serious illness.
“When you make this commitment to walk more or Move for Meals, you have the benefit of helping your own well-being, as well as those of others,” Steve said.
The pair even reached out to old coworkers and friends to fundraise and were delighted by the response.
“People were happy to support and learn about the organization,” Suzanne said.
Every $10 they raised provided one free, medically tailored meal to a neighbor in need. And moving for meals helped Steve feel “like Food & Friends is part of my family again.”
“Feeding people, especially people who are unwell, is just a privilege. It really is,” Steve said. “I’m just proud to be a Food & Friends supporter.”
Food & Friends is a nonprofit that relies on donations to sustain its mission. Join our community helping neighbors in need at moveformealsdc.org.