Kane County program preps meals for people undergoing serious medical challenges
CHICAGO (CBS) -- If you have been through a serious medical treatment, you know how physically, mentally, and emotionally draining it can be.
That's why a team of volunteers in Kane County meets every week to cook up something special: meals for people going through a health crisis.
CBS 2's Sara Machi was invited into the kitchen to see what they're making, and how you can help.
In an otherwise deserted Kane County Fairgrounds, a team comes together, an act of community service, with each single-serve meal they put together.
The staff and volunteers with Fox Valley Food For Health make free meals for about 100 people and take a mundane task off the plates of residents who are going through serious medical challenges like cancer and their families.
Each recipe is healthy, nutrient-dense, and specially formulated to give recipients the energy they need in the fight for their lives with ingredients to support healing and recovery. It's food they cook, portion, package, and deliver each week.
"I also deliver the meals on Wednesdays to patients, and I let them know that this is one of the best ones, one of the best ones that they can get," said Nicole Jones, volunteer.
Chef Molly Evans runs the kitchen like a well-oiled machine.
"We have volunteers that have been here years and years and they come every week," she said.
But it's a machine that has reached its limit.
"For the first time in the history of our organization, we are carrying a waitlist because we just can't meet the demand," said Chris May, executive director of Fox Valley Food For Health.
May said people were waiting six to 10 weeks last year before they could get in the rotation. Now they're searching for a bigger space looking to move next year.
Operators say that a new facility would allow them to expand three-fold in terms of the number of people they help, but also the geographic radius that they serve.
This means more miles for delivery drivers like Nicole Jones – and more meals for the people who need them.
Leaders say the move to a bigger kitchen is made possible by a big donation, but they are always looking for more people willing to donate their time or money.
For more information on how you can help, visit the Fox Valley Food For Health website.
