My brother-in-law (dh’s sister’s husband) is starting chemotherapy for lung cancer this week. They live several states away from us, and I am trying to come up with a way to be helpful from afar. I realize bil may not be eating much, but I am wanting to make sure sil eats well.
I am NOT interested in meal kits (Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, etc). I am NOT interested in a subscription. I want to send one-offs when I think it will be most beneficial for them. I want food that it prepared and ready to heat. I have looked at Spoonful of Comfort, Send a Meal, Harry & David. It is just the two of them.
Please let me know your thoughts on whether or not this is a good or bad idea. If it’s a good idea, please lmk of any experiences with these or other companies. If it’s a bad idea, please share ideas for ways to be helpful from a distance.
Also note - she lives in a rural area - even out from the center of the small town in which she lives. So, trying to get food delivered from local places does not work. They have fast food, pizza, and maybe one home-cooking type restaurant in their area. Uber eats, DoorDash, etc are not options.
Thanks for suggestions. Our family has not navigated chemotherapy before.
We have received and sent Spoonful of Comfort and we love it. The quality is great, it can be frozen if they can’t eat it right away. Another option would be send a HoneyBaked Ham.
Another option would be to set up a meal train with their friends or support network where they live. We did this when my sister was going through cancer surgery and we were across the country. Her and our friends were really grateful to have a chance to do something supportive. There are quite a few websites that make the meal train coordination really easy.
Or since you say they live far outside of town, you could coordinate with someone local to collect frozen meals from friends and then deliver them at one time to fill their freezer.
I have sent both Williams Sonoma prepared and frozen entrees and Lou Malnatis’s pizzas. However, I have not tasted them myself.
It is a very thoughtful gesture on your part. Prayers for her treatment.
I had a subscription from Freshly for a couple months. It’s a subscription but you can pause at any time, so you could send a few meals one week then pause indefinitely until you’re ready to send another batch. You can even have them pick out the specific meals they want.
Although it’s pretty expensive, there’s also Goldbelly if you feel like really treating them.
I like the food train idea. I am sure local friends would want to support them. I have been a part of one for a family in my town (before they had internet set ups). It works well. Having it organized, means that people just don’t drop stuff off at random times. This usually allows for the recipients to specify food likes/dislikes and any allergies.
Honey Baked ham has a very good selection of ham, turkey, beef and sides for online shipping. You can order smaller portions (like for 4-6 people). Not cheap but convenient.
We sometimes send meals to my BIL and we do it by ordering from restaurants near where he lives and having it delivered. Have you asked them if they gave any local restaurants they like that do delivery?
I don’t know their friends. My sil is a retired teacher, and pre-Covid had a monthly lunch with a group of them. I’m hopeful one of them will step up and do that . Other than those folks, I don’t think she/they have many friends. My bil is 18 years older than my sil. I am also hoping his younger siblings who are closer will help.
It ALL seems pretty expensive to me. If I do it, it will be sporadic. I so wish mil who lives about 45 minutes away would do some meal prep for them, but since fil died, she hardly cooks at all.
Thanks for the suggestions of other places to look!
I have had really good luck with Goldbelly. They carry meals from great restaurants all over the country. Things that I wouldn’t have dreamed would arrive in good shape have arrived in perfect delicious condition.
I’m sorry your family is having to navigate chemo right now.
Edited- As I think about it, you could use doordash to have simple things like Panera or similar delivered as well. It’s so hard to be far.
And edited again - I see that they are rural. I missed that. Doordash won’t work.
This always happened in our church when someone had a baby. Two weeks of meals, delivered every other night. I know the online signups are so much nicer now because everyone can see what everyone else is bringing and that helps not to have repeats. We received one pan of chicken enchiladas and FIVE lasagnas. And everyone who brought a lasagna brought a whole loaf of French bread. Lol. Not to seem like an ingrate, but technology certainly helps in this regard.
They don’t have anything even like a Panera near them. They are very rural. I have not explored Goldbelly, but if they idea is that they do delivery from local places, there just aren’t any.
Harry and David’s and Wolfermans both have meal options on their websites. You might want to check there. I was looking last night and some really sounded good.
I think it is a good idea. I have done the same, sending Spoonful to people on chemo. I have contemplated Goldbelly, but not done it (tamales for Xmas). I’ve looked at local Uber Eats type options for my dad, reading the menus of what is available to figure out what I might send. He is not too picky, though, and would be thrilled to get Taco Bell delivered on a rainy day.
Could you call that local place and ask if they’d do you a favor for a friend in need? My H has done that with local bakeries here that don’t deliver. Sometimes they are pleased to be asked and, for a price, will do it.
You could forego the meal idea and send something you bake yourself, like cookies or a pie.
“I so wish mil who lives about 45 minutes away would do some meal prep for them, but since fil died, she hardly cooks at all.” - Will the mil be visiting them? If so, perhaps you could have her pick up some take-out restaurant meals (you place the order) from a restaurant along the way.
I’ve been told that people on chemo sometimes can eat mashed potatoes when nothing else is appealing - so maybe the order could include that.