The Problem

To best understand our work, it’s necessary to understand the problem. These factors all play a role in a patients ability to stay nourished:

  • Loss of appetite is one of the most common cancer treatment side effects.

  • Foods our patients may have loved before cancer no longer taste good.

  • Isolation is very common for cancer patients. 57% report feeling lonely.

  • 42% of cancer patients will go bankrupt within their first two years of treatments. Paying for cancer takes a toll.

Our Approach

Loss of appetite, changing taste buds, depression, and financial strain are overwhelming challenges on their own—but they’re even harder while fighting cancer. Many patients face these struggles alone, leading to skipped meals and feelings of isolation. There’s a lot of work to be done, but over the last decade we’ve made tremendous progress.

Here’s how we’re building a cycle of nourishment:

Category Two

We Know It’s Working

Less Stress

91% of our patients report that Culinary Care helped reduced stress.

More Hope

94% of our patients report that Culinary Care increased hope & happiness.

A Community

99% of our patients report that Culinary Care increased their sense of community.

Our Program Focus

The need is vast and there’s a lot of work to be done. Our current focus is on expanding our Treatment Day Lunch program to new cities. Hospitals do not provide meals during outpatient care. As we work to make nourishment part of cancer care, we believe this is a critical gap that needs to be filled first.

See the map below to view our current hospital & restaurant partners.

  • Hospitals do not provide meals for outpatient care. We have staff on the road five days a week picking up made-to-order lunches and delivering them to patients who otherwise wouldn’t get lunch during chemotherapy treatment.

  • Our highest-need patients get access to free restaurant prepared meals so that they can celebrate the holidays around the table.

  • Our dedicated staff make regular check-in calls and go the extra mile to ensure our families feel like they have a neighbor they can count on whenever they need it.