ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 26, 1997 TAG: 9703260086
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The organization that gives street people a taste of tinsel town is called...take a breath...Angel Harvest.
There were no Versace gowns or diamonds, but there was king salmon, pasta, raspberries and three-layer chocolate cake as the homeless and poor lunched Tuesday on leftovers from Oscar's Governors Ball.
Also on the menu: a post-feast showing of ``The English Patient.''
The food, compliments of the Academy Awards, came straight from a menu designed by Wolfgang Puck's Spago and was delivered to the Downtown Women's Center by Angel Harvest, Inc., a nonprofit organization that turns Hollywood's leftovers into Skid Row feasts.
``We're sharing something that all Angelenos love, and that's Hollywood,'' said Caroline McColl, executive director of the women's center. ``It ties us all together with where we live, no matter who we are.''
About 40 women, some who live at the center and others who came in from the street, sat at thick, whitewashed pine tables and enjoyed a taste of tinsel town.
``Ummm, salmon - I haven't had that for quite some time,'' said Ruby, who's been coming to the center since 1980. ``It's delicious. It's one of my favorites.''
``That was good food,'' proclaimed Rose Arzola, as she polished off a bowl of fat, red raspberries.
Angel Harvest is Helen ver Duin Palit's answer to the question: ``What do they do with the insides to all those potato skins?''
Palit was running a soup kitchen in New Haven, Conn., when she asked that question at a restaurant in 1980. The next day, she had 30 pounds of cooked spuds on her hands - enough to feed a shelter full of hungry people.
Today, her group has grown to a network of 130 programs, nationwide and overseas.
In New York City, the food comes from Wall Street parties and Broadway bashes. In Jackson, Miss., extra restaurant food and crops that went to waste in the fields become meals for the hungry.
And in Hollywood, where showbiz events are as common as palm trees, Angel Harvest is just beginning to tap into the supply. Movies, commercials, photo shoots, studio parties - they always involve food.
Since August 1995, the organization has fed nearly 700 people a day, Palit said, at shelters and service organizations.
The key is making it simple and dependable for donors. That means having trucks available for free pickup on short notice.
Carl Schuster, vice president of Restaurant Associates, who catered the Oscar bash, said his business has been working with Angel Harvest since the 1980s in New York and was thrilled to have a safe way to get the leftovers to those who need it the most.
``This is a beautiful thing,'' said Patricia Thornton, who credits the center with getting her off the street and back to her family. ``It's given with love, and that's what we need.''
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB