Ray Castellani gives comfort to the homeless and hungry.

Community Profile

Granada Hills Man Has a Passion for Feeding the Homeless

By Thom Senzee

Ray Castellani has been talking about retiring since about the time the president of the United States honored him with'the country's highest award for volunteerism. That president was Bill Clinton -- in his first term.

As the founder of Frontline Foundation (www.frontline-foundation.org). he has brought countless meals to the hungry and homeless living on skid row. But, how he came to be so committed to the mission of feeding the homeless families, alcoholics, and the drug addicts along with the emotionally and mentally ill who live on the streets of downtown Los Angeles, is an unlikely story

Castellani was a character actor in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, playing in such well­known television series' as "Gunsmoke," "Mannix," "Heart to Heart," "Simon & Simon," and "Bonanza," to name but a few.

"I am an actor who terminated his career in 1987," he remembered. "I was always playing the heavy, and I didn't want to do it anymore."

In 1980, he was asked to play the role of Poppy Doyle - another "heavy" -- in a Broadway production of "On the Waterfront' But after he waited for near­ly a year, the project was cancelled before it got off the ground.

"I really lost interest in acting then," Castellani said. "I stayed on in L.A. for four more years, until 1985, doing parts on TV shows now and then, but my heart wasn't in if'

That's when Ray Castellani got into his now legendary (at least on skid row) white truck, and headed for "parts unknown." He searched across the West

for something new to fulfill his spirit.,

Eventually, he would find it - his calling. But, not before experiencing a deep depression.

"I terminated everything in L.A.," he said. "I lived in my truck, and I just drove. I was lost, pounding on the dash and cry­ing. I needed a new direction; I was lost."

Castellani says, something strange happened then. A thought came to him that seemed to come from somewhere besides his own mind. It told him to go back to Los Angeles.

"The inception came to my mind that I should go back to L.A. But, jeez, I had just left there. I drove south toward

Southern California from the Oregon bor­der. Then I thought, 'this is stupid,' so I turned back around:'

After recapitulating more than once, the former actor did end up in L.A.; and he knew what he had to do to resolve the angst he felt. He needed to feed people on skid row.

"I want to tell you, I rebelled against that feeling like you can't imagine," he said. "I said: 'I'm not gonna do it!' I did­n't know how I could do it"

But, all of the people and resources needed to bring large amounts of food to people living on the streets of downtown Los Angeles were suddenly presented to Mr. Castellani, in spite of his resistance to what he calls direction from God.

"I got sober, myself, in 1969," he recalled. "I had spent enough, time around drunks, and I'didn't want to do it anymore. I've drunk on skid rows all over the country, from Miami and Philadelphia,

to L.A."            ,

Nevertheless, he decided to "get it over with;" the compulsion was too strong for him to resist. The first day "on the job," with the help of two of his friends, he served 111 peanut butter and jelly sand­wiches. It took two minutes to distribute the entire batch. Contrary to his pro­fessed wish for the mission to be a one­time affair, Castellani soon founded Frontline Foundation, which continues feeding people to this day.

Castellani and Frontline Foundation have delivered more than 800,000 meals to date. Now they are nutritionally bal­anced meals, both on plates and in brown bags, not just PB&J.

"I am so blessed," Castellani said. "I have so much to be grateful for. I never knew I would be doing this, and never would have thought I would be getting the

kind of rewards I get for doing it. The feel- . ing I get from bringing these folks food."

Recently, Frontline Foundation was given a large number of elegant, aro­matherapy candles by someone who thought they might be helpful to Ray Castellani and his meal-making opera­tion. He's not selling them, though. He gives them to anyone who wants one. He would like for them to make a donation, however; and people do.

If you would like to have one of the candles, and help feed the hungry on skid row, visit www.frontline-foundation.org