For families who are dealing with the unimaginably difficult scenario of having a child who has been diagnosed with cancer, preparing daily, nutritious meals can be a challenge. When a family is divided between the hospital and home parents can struggle to get dinner on the table and siblings school lunches are often forgotten. That’s where the West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation helps – it takes one thing off these family’s plates by putting something on them.

In addition to providing healthy, nutritious snacks and meals at BC Children’s Hospital, in 2020, the West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation launched the Nourish at Home program with the help of the Pacific Blue Cross Health Foundation. The program offers families ongoing, consistent nourishment and support after their child has finished in-patient treatment. Families are provided with grocery and meal delivery services to their homes.

The time after in-patient treatment can be one of the most stressful for families. Children and parents can struggle to reintegrate back into a “normal” life while dealing with very real post-traumatic stress symptoms. While it’s difficult to eliminate all feelings of fear and apprehension, the Nourish at Home program aims to relieve one of these stresses for families.

Oh my goodness, I'm so excited! These meals have lifted an enormous weight each day. They have given me extra time to do other things as well as sit down longer at the table with my children. This is more than a delivery of food and nutrition, it's a gift of time and energy

-Alison, Vancouver Island

The program was able to launch with the help of a $10,000 donation from the Health Foundation. “We want to express our most sincere thanks to the Pacific Blue Cross Health Foundation,” says Shannon Hartwig of the West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation. “Thanks to their generous investment, the Nourish at Home program was successfully launched in November 2020 and is expanding to support more families every month.” Funding went towards purchasing the initial food inventory and for packaging materials such as boxes and liners to keep the food safely frozen during delivery.

Since launching the Nourish at Home program over 1,900 meals have been delivered to 35 different families. The program is continuing to grow every month—their goal is to support 100 families with Nourish at Home deliveries by the end of 2021.