Meghan Markle's Mom, Doria Ragland, Suggested the Sussexes Volunteer With an LA Food Bank

Like mother, like daughter.

  • Earlier this week, news broke that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been giving back in their new community, Los Angeles, by delivering meals for a local charity.
  • The idea to volunteer with the organization, Project Angel Food, came from Meghan's mom, Doria Ragland, according to the nonprofit's executive director, Richard Ayoub.
  • Ayoub said that Harry and Meghan were "genuinely compassionate" and "extremely engaged" with everyone they met while working with Project Angel Food.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are taking an active role in helping their new community weather the storm that is the coronavirus pandemic—and we have Meghan's mom, Doria Ragland, to thank for that, apparently.

The Sussexes made headlines this week when they stepped out to deliver meals for Project Angel Food, a Los Angeles-based charity focused on preparing and bringing food to people with AIDS and other critical illnesses. Clearly, nonprofits like this need support now more than ever as they struggle to help underserved communities during the pandemic.

Project Angel Food works for a great cause and its mission makes it a natural fit Harry and Meghan, but the idea to volunteer with the organization actually came from Meghan's mom, Doria, according to the charity's executive director, Richard Ayoub.

Ayoub told The Huffington Post this week that Doria was the one who suggested that Harry and Meghan get involved when they told her they wanted to find a way to give back over Easter weekend. The couple took Doria's suggestion to heart and reached out to Project Angel Food to set up a meeting and a tour of its facilities.

"They were just genuinely compassionate, interested individuals who came to visit the kitchens," Ayoub said, adding that Harry and Meghan were "extremely engaged with every single person they met."

Sounds exactly like the Harry and Meghan we love.


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Contributing Editor at Marie Claire

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.