Cycling Sister seeks to deliver more than a meal

摘要

As Sister Alice Marie Quinn, DC, BSc, RD, bikes along the quiet street at 6 a.m., she calls a cheery "good morning" to the burly biker barreling toward her. He zips past with barely a glance, then circles back for another look at her habit. Incredulous, he asks, "Are you really a nun?" "Yes," she replies. "Cool," he says, and continues on his way without a backward glance. It is Quinn's "coolness," people savvy and management skills that have allowed her to make friends and influence the people who hold the purse strings so vital to the operation of the St. Vincent Senior Citizen Nutrition Program in Los Angeles—the largest private meals program in the nation today. Quinn has served as program director since she founded it in 1977 to provide nutrition services to the elderly poor living in declining neighborhoods surrounding St. Vincent Medical Center.