The Frontline Foundation, located in downtown Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, is a non-profit charity organization that serves emergency meals to people on Skid Row

Skid row

A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population. The term originally referred literally to a path along which working men skidded logs. Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest...

. As of July 2006, it has served over 860,000 meals. Each day volunteers serve over 200 homeless people.

History

The Frontline Foundation was founded in 1987 by Raymond Castellani

Raymond Castellani

Raymond Jay Castellani was born in Albany, New York on February 13, 1933. He is a former character actor, Skid Row alcoholic, and from humble beginnings in 1987, the founder of the Frontline Foundation, which serves meals to the homeless on the Los Angeles Skid Row.In 1995, Castellani received...

, a former character actor who most often played bad guys in Westerns. During the 1970s, Castellani became homeless after a struggle with alcoholism

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

. Initially, Frontline consisted of Castellani serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a pot of coffee to a group of homeless people at 5th and San Pedro streets. Today, the Frontline Foundation operates on a budget of approximately $60,000 per year. In 1995, President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 honored Castellani with the President's Service Award, the United States' highest award for volunteers.