Debra Messing and Chaz Dean honored at the Angel Awards Gala
This weekend Debra Messing was given the Founder’s Award at Project Angel Food’s 28th Annual Angel Awards Gala and celebrity hairstylist Chaz Dean was given the Corporate Leadership Award. Celebrities and philanthropists alike joined Messing and Dean at the Project Angel Food headquarters in Hollywood to celebrate in their honor as well as bringing awareness to the cause.
Project Angel Food cooks and delivers over 500,000 meals every year to men, women and children suffering from life-threatening illnesses and that too at no cost at all. However, they don’t just stop there. The organization makes the meals medically tailored to each person, offers nutritional counseling and helps those in need in the Los Angeles area that are too sick to shop or cook for themselves. Project Angel Food was originally created in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic but has since expanded to help anyone with a life-threatening disease.
Messing has been a supporter of Project Angel Food for many years now, discovering the organization not long after she moved to Los Angeles. She has seen it grow, change and expand into this widely known and respected non-profit. Speaking exclusively with Meaww, Messing expressed her passion for the cause.
“It has grown and expanded and serves all of Los Angeles combatting all different kinds of life-threatening illnesses. It really is the jewel of Los Angeles, it not only nourishes people with food, but with kindness and comfort.”
Celebrity hairstylist Chaz Dean was also honored at the Gala with the Corporate Leadership Award. Dean has donated his time in the kitchen in addition to supporting the organization in a variety of different ways. In fact, Dean recently sponsored a van for delivery services, bringing a smile to whoever encountered the van, which is exactly the kind of dedication and energy behind Project Angel Food.
We spoke with Dean about his involvement with the organization, and why it was so close to his heart. Dean is so passionate about Project Angel food, that he even got a little choked up!
“Everyone that is involved is what makes it really special. The heart that's in it, the caring that's in it, and the love that goes into every meal that is prepared. I think that’s important. You see so many cooking shows and hear about all of ‘the love that goes into it,’ so all these people are getting these meals delivered, and they really are being delivered with all that heart and all that love, you’re gonna make me get emotional! But it’s really true.”
Other celebrities like Charlie Sheen are involved in Project Angel Food, donating his time specifically to the kitchen and helping serve those in need. Sheen spoke with us on the red carpet and told us about how he recently started getting involved and what the organization has come to mean to him.
“I’ve known about it from my dad for a while and then my girlfriend Jules introduced it to me recently. I went to an event, and they said you should come here and work in the kitchen, and I did, and then that day they said that you should come here on this night, and I did. And it’s just nice to give something back and to work with an organization that what they are promising is actually delivered. And the amount of the donations that actually go into the food and out to the people that need it.”
Musician, performer and actress Charo is also very involved in Project Angel Food, hand delivering meals to those in need and working in the kitchen. This is a cause that is very close to her heart and one that she feels extremely passionate about. Charo spoke with Meaww telling us the unreal experience she has had hand delivering food and cooking for people with a life-threatening illness.
“To be able to be healthy, to cook for somebody that, for time being is not healthy and they need the help for that time, it helps you be a better person.”
Other stars that attended the event included TV and Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson who also performed at the gala, model and actress Cheryl Tiegs, Tyler Henry (The Hollywood Medium), actor Goya Robles (Get Shorty), actor Juan Pablo Di Pace (Fuller House and Mama Mia!), actress Lidio Porto (Get Shorty) and more!