CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- It's a rainy Wednesday and Courtney White makes her daily rounds to one of the 30 Chicago restaurants that donate food to her non-profit organization, Culinary Care.
"I'm here from Culinary Care. I'm here to pick up four meals," she said as she brings in insulated bags and a check list to Sienna Tavern in River North.
"Roast beat salad, Sienna Chop, two lasagnas," reads Julio Pinedo, Executive Chef, Sienna Tavern.
White zips up her bags, loads the food into her car, then drives to Prentice Women's Hospital in Streeterville.
"We deliver to chemo patients who are getting treatment," she said. "We partner with local restaurants. Everything is made to order. Magianno's was our very first meal partner in 2013."
White said the idea came to her when her father was getting treatment for stage-4 lung cancer in 2006.
"We were told he'd have either 5 months to 5 years to live and about 7 months later, he passed away. During that time, we were in and out of the hospital, in and out of chemo, radiation, surgery, rehab, all of it. It was just a crazy time," she recalled. "We were fortunate to have friends and family bring us meals every night for months and it was such a huge help."
After college she said she looked for a way to give back.
"I wanted to help others and bring meals to them the same way my family had it. That's what inspired the organization," she said.
What she found was that there was no kind of support for cancer patients in chemotherapy.
"As we started delivering more and more meals, we found out that when you're in the hospital for outpatient care, which a lot of chemotherapy is done as outpatient care, our patients are here anywhere from four-15 hours, but you don't get meal services from the hospital," she said. "So they're coming in and they don't have a way to get food brought to them. I remember with my dad, when we would go and visit him, the last thing we wanted to do is leave him and go find food."
Patients use the Culinary Care app to order. The menu changes each day.
"Our volunteers are on the road delivering meals every day. We started with about 200 meals our first year. This year we're on pace to deliver 3,500 meals. We get requests from all around the Chicagoland area and even nationwide. It's people who've been through the same thing I have and want to do this for their community or medical team like doctors and social workers that search for this type of support," she said.
For the restaurants involved, it's another way of giving back.
"We've been working with Culinary Care for about four years. It means a lot. Giving back and being able to provide something like this. It's one of our two big donations that we do. I'm proud to be a part of it," Pinedo said.
WBBM: Do you put a little more TLC in these?
"I keep this in mind every day. The more we can do, the more we can encourage patients to reconnect with food. People can lose their appetites and even their taste buds during chemo," she said.
White said she's proud of her company's growth and the impact it's had on people's lives, something she said, her dad would be so proud of.
"Every memory I have of him is about food. If we were eating breakfast, we were talking about lunch. Being able to bring the joy and excitement he found with food to others, it's really amazing. I love that I get to keep his memory alive. I think he'd think this was amazing and would approve of all of our restaurants," she laughed.
Culinary Care is sustained through grants, private donations, and fundraisers.
"It's incredible to know what I've dedicated my life to is making a difference. The small difference a meal can make, if I can bring a little bit of joy to someone who is going through this and give them the experience that I know my dad would have loved to have, it's very rewarding. It's like my life has meaning now," White said.
In 6 years, the company has grown exponentially. White said her goal is to reach 10,000 meals delivered by 2023.
"We all love to go out to eat. There are so many emotional connections and memories that you make. It brings you so much joy and happiness when you get to go out to a restaurant. If we can bring that in here and make what's usually a down day for patients something that they look forward to, then we've done our job," she said.
For more information, visit culinarycare.org.
