Ruth Marie Brinker (May 1, 1922 – August 8, 2011) was an American

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and founder of the

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Project Open Hand Project Open Hand is a California nonprofit organization that provides medically tailored meals and groceries to elderly and homebound people in San Francisco and Alameda County. Founded in 1985 to deliver meals to people with AIDS, it also took ...

. She began her activism in 1985 by providing food and

meals A meal is an occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The English names used for specific meals vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal. A meal is different from a ...

to home-bound AIDS patients in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

who were too ill cook or shop. Brinker was born Ruth Marie Appel on May 1, 1922, in

Hartford, South Dakota Hartford is a suburban American city in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, a few miles northwest of Sioux Falls. Its population was 3,354 at the 2020 census. History Hartford was named in 1880 after Hartford, Connecticut. An early variant name wa ...

. She moved to

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, during the mid-1950s, where she married her husband, Jack Brinker, in 1957. They had two daughters, Lisa and Sara, but later divorced in 1965. By the mid-1980s, the AIDS epidemic was sweeping through San Francisco. One of Brinker's friends, who had AIDS and corresponding

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

, became too weak to

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

or leave his home to go

grocery A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

shopping. Brinker, who was a grandmother at the time, and a group of her friends collaborated to provide the man with meals by dividing up the month to delivering them to his home. Unfortunately, some of the volunteers went on vacation and the man died by the time they returned to San Francisco. Ruth Brinker vowed not to allow the same fate happen to others in San Francisco. She had previously worked in the food service industry and as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, a similar predecessor which provides meals to people who cannot purchase or prepare meals. She began organizing volunteers on a larger basis to deliver hot meals to AIDS patients in the city. This led to the establishment of her nonprofit, Project Open Hand, which was founded in summer of 1985 by Brinker and seven of her friends. The organization began with a small grant of $2,000 from a

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

study group A study group is a small group of people who regularly meet to discuss shared fields of study. These groups can be found in a high school or college/university setting, within companies, occasionally primary/junior school and sometimes middle sc ...

and donated

cookware Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considered both cookwar ...

. Project Open Hand has since expanded to provide meals and other services to the elderly and people with other chronic illnesses. In 1987 and 1988, Project Open Hand served 300 AIDS patients using an annual budget of $500,000. As of 2011, Project Open Hand provides 2,600 meals a day using $5.6 million in public and private donations. Brinker's nonprofit has been copied by "dozens" of organizations throughout the United States, according to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Ruth Brinker died from complications of

vascular dementia Vascular dementia is dementia caused by a series of strokes. Restricted blood flow due to strokes reduces oxygen and glucose delivery to the brain, causing cell injury and neurological deficits in the affected region. Subtypes of vascular dement ...

at her home in San Francisco on August 8, 2011, at age 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinker, Ruth 1922 births 2011 deaths American health activists American HIV/AIDS activists Activists from San Francisco People from Hartford, South Dakota Deaths from dementia in California Deaths from vascular dementia 20th-century American people 20th-century American women