Video: Chicken Soup Brigade needs more volunteer drivers

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Gas prices are hurting a local group of dedicated volunteers providing food to people living with HIV and AIDS. The ranks of the Chicken Soup Brigade are being thinned as the price at the pump goes up.

The price of gas is hitting most people hard, but for the Brigade it has become crippling. They need drivers to deliver food to patients who are often homebound. As gas prices go up, those volunteers drop off.

The organization provides food to more than 900 clients living with HIV/AIDS in King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties. About half the clients are able to come to the Capitol Hill kitchen to retrieve the food. For the other half, food must come to them.

"The other half of our clients are people who are victims and at the mercy of their illness; they're homebound, unable to get around," said Mike Cox, Chicken Soup Brigade.

That's why volunteer delivery drivers like Nancy Lauterbach are a vital link.

"I really enjoy seeing my clients every other week," said Lauterbach.

But gas prices have forced Lauterbach to cut back. She used to drive a delivery route once a week. With gas prices over four dollars a gallon now, she's cut back to twice a month.

"It was getting too expensive to drive up here every week," said Lauterbach.

Unfortunately, that's the trend. About 20% of Chicken Soup's volunteer routes are going unfilled. More volunteers say they just can't afford to fuel their cars. For Chicken Soup clients, sometimes it means going without their only food source.

"Sometimes, unfortunately, we have to ask clients, can you wait a day for your food? Your driver is just not going to be able to make it in today and we don't have anyone to fill in," said Cox.

If you'd like to volunteer to be a delivery driver for Chicken Soup Brigade, you need to have a car. They ask that you be 18 years old and commit one to three hours a week.