Meals 2 Heal offers students the opportunity to learn about nutrition and culinary skills while connecting with members of the community as they prepare nourishing meals for cancer patients.
Based out of the Calvary United Methodist Church in Green Hills, Meals 2 Heal seeks to prepare and deliver a week’s worth of meals, free of charge, to cancer patients in Davidson and Williamson County.
“Although we’re serving meals to people who are currently going through active cancer treatment, it’s not just the meals that are important, it’s the love and the support that we give them — it’s the love that we teach the people in the kitchen,” volunteer coordinator Robin Mizaur said.
Meals 2 Heal is a branch of The Heimerdinger Foundation, which was founded following the death of Mike Heimerdinger who lost his battle with cancer in September of 2011. It was during his treatment that the Heimerdinger’s were exposed to the whole-body approach of using nutrition, supplements and alternative treatments along with Chemotherapy. The Heimerdinger Foundation was formed to promote healthier lifestyles and help raise awareness about cancer treatment options.
“It’s not just about the food; we’re also hoping that people will make healthy lifestyle changes,” Mizaur said.
Founder Kathie Heimerdinger works alongside the volunteers in the kitchen each week and says that each person who contributes to the preparation is an integral part of the process.
“I’m just so grateful that we’re here and blessed with the people that walk through our doors and help us produce these unbelievable meals — from our chef to the mentor chefs to the teen volunteers,” Heimerdinger said.
Heimerdinger modeled Meals 2 Heal after Ceres Community Project, a similar organization based in California. When she brought the model to Nashville in 2013, the program had five clients, two interns and one chef. In the first year, they served 3,324 meals to 32 clients, and last year they served 7,132 meals to 63 clients.
With plans to continue expanding their client base, Heimerdinger said the program is in need of more volunteers, especially Delivery Angels. Delivery Angels are the volunteers who transport food from the church to the clients.
Kitchen manager and delivery coordinator Meredith Caemmerer said that interacting with the patients is a highlight of volunteering.
“It’s a great expeience to be able to go in and meet the people we’re actually serving,” Caemmerer said. “They’re so grateful and thankful for what we’re doing for them and they’re so positive. They love to see other people.
“A lot of these people don’t have care givers living with them, so just to see another face once a week is a wonderful experience for them.”
In addition to connecting with the clients, Meals 2 Heal seeks to reach out to the community through partnerships with organizations such as Whole Foods, Hope Lodge and Gilda’s Club. It was through a class at Gilda’s Club that volunteer Martha Lingley found out about the program.
“I’m two years out from lung cancer,” Lingley said. “When I found out about this foundation, I thought how wonderful it would have been if I had known about it during my treatment — to have this kind of food — because it’s very healing.”
Lingley decided to serve last June and has enjoyed it ever since.
“I can’t think of anything I would rather do than spend my Tuesdays here, knowing I’m helping cancer patients,” Lingley said.
Executive Chef Josh Weekley said that he encourages anyone to volunteer. Lipscomb students can receive service hours and SALT credit through volunteering.
“We always welcome anyone to volunteer and to come in and just kind of see what we’re about, see what kind of things we do on a regular basis [and] learn the recipes,” Weekley said.
For those interested in volunteering, send an email to volunteer@hfmeals.org to learn more information about the program.
Photo courtesy of Meals 2 Heal