Spotlight: Meals of Hope
The Patient and Family Resource Room on 7 West at Children's Hospital Boston recently launched a new program to lift the spirits—and fill the stomachs—of patients and their families on the Oncology, Hematology, Stem Cell Transplant and Neuro-Oncology units.
The program, Meals of Hope, invites chefs from restaurants across the city to cook and deliver dinners to Children's patient families. Each month, a different restaurant provides a comforting meal, arriving with trays filled with specialties from their restaurant. Tasty dishes ranging from southern barbecue to the best Indian cuisine in Boston give patients and families an opportunity to experience the great culinary diversity of the city and sometimes a chance to try something new.
One parent captured the true essence of the program's impact when she wrote the following in a thank you note to the restaurant: "Your thoughtful meal offers a moment of warmth, hope and compassion during a time of turmoil and uncertainty! We deeply appreciate, from our sated tummies out to our fingers and toes, your kindness."
These dinners offer a much-needed change from the routine these families develop, as they spend countless nights and dollars ordering the same items from the cafeteria or the nearby food court. But the greatest reward seems to be for the parents, who get to see their child enjoying food again, often for the first time in months, since chemotherapy and other treatments often affect the appetite.
The following restaurants have generously participated in the Meals of Hope program in 2005: Bertucci's, Canestaro's, Chef Chang's House, Cold Stone Creamery, Golden Temple, India Quality Restaurant, Linwood Grill & Barbecue, Longhorn Steakhouse, Qdoba, Sorento's, Union Oyster House and Vinh-Sun B.B.Q. & Restaurant. In addition to the restaurants that donated dinners, Kashmir provided a significant discount for a catered dinner in the 7 West Resource Room.
For more information, or if your restaurant would like to participate in Meals of Hope, contact Summer Holubec at (617) 355-5645 or summer.holubec@childrens.harvard.edu.
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