Oklahoma City volunteers deliver meals, companionship to people living with AIDS

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The baked turkey, cornbread dressing and pumpkin pie that Scotti Irani and his friends whip up on Thanksgiving Day would be enough to make most anyone smile. <br/><br/>But for the

Thursday, November 24th 2005, 2:58 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The baked turkey, cornbread dressing and pumpkin pie that Scotti Irani and his friends whip up on Thanksgiving Day would be enough to make most anyone smile.

But for the dozens of people who are HIV positive or are living with AIDS who they serve, it's not the meals that put a twinkle in their eyes. It's the caring companionship that comes with them.

Irani and his band of volunteers delivered 175 meals on Thanksgiving Day, most to shut-ins too ill to venture outside or too secluded and depressed to be with family and friends.

Irani, a culinary consultant, began delivering meals six years ago following the AIDS-related death of a friend he met while attending a culinary school in Rhode Island.

Since then, the number of meals and volunteers has steadily increased.