Since 2009, Diana Gregory Outreach Services (DGOS) has provided healthy food and fresh produce to seniors, veterans, and their grandchildren in the Phoenix area. At first, Diana delivered food to people with a pickup truck. In the years since, DGOS has grown, serving more than 20,000 people in 2023.
As a mobile produce delivery provider, DGOS fills a real need for seniors with limited income, mobility, and transportation. Most seniors DGOS serves are on fixed incomes of $700 a month. After paying rent, they have limited income available for medication and food. Many seniors must take two buses to get to the nearest grocery store, and carrying bags of groceries home is not feasible. DGOS provides bags of fresh fruit and vegetables, offering different types to accommodate people’s dietary restrictions. These nutritious foods also combat diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses.
DGOS provides people with more than food; it offers community to seniors and veterans who otherwise lack opportunities for social connection. Diana shares: “The need is great and many of us can identify seniors and veterans in our own lives who are struggling. They might live in isolation, have hearing loss, suffer from dementia, depression, PTSD, or other chronic illnesses.
Diana explains how drop-off days have become events that people look forward to. People come out of their apartments and mingle with neighbors and DGOS volunteers. DGOS offers free recipes and cooking classes that feature that month’s fruits and vegetables. Seniors cook together and exchange their favorite recipes with one another – building connections and meaningful relationships.
Funds to Feed grants have supported DGOS since 2020, helping the program serve more seniors within each building and expand its capacity. With limited funding, DGOS could only serve half the seniors within a building. Now DGOS provides stipends to a volunteer driver, covering more ground and serving five more residential locations – each with 100 seniors. But Diana has even bigger hopes for the organization. With additional resources, she would like to serve more locations and increase drop-offs to seniors twice per month.
“Food insecurity is a global crisis, but we all need to do our part locally. Over 100,000 seniors in Maricopa County live below the poverty level. We want—and need—to keep closing the gap,” says Diana.
The response from community members has been so positive that the facilities DGOS serves now market their services as a perk to prospective residents: “We offer fresh produce through Gregory’s Fresh Markets.”