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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Meals for Stressful Times

Two men stood chatting at the nursery window, one a stranger admiring our friend’s new grandson. As they spoke, the father of the baby walked up and said,

We have two more just like him in the NICU.

 

That’s right.

 

Triplets.

Sixty little fingers and toes!

 

All boys. đź’™ đź’™ đź’™

 

 

Two of the babies are home now, and the family is working hard to juggle 40 little fingers and toes while making daily trips to love on 20 more little fingers and toes an hour away at Children’s Hospital. Thankfully, Dad just told me the “last” little guy is doing very well; he just needs a little more time.

 

I can’t even imagine . . .

 

To help out a little, our church family is taking meals three days each week for several months.

 

I’ll take my first turn on Friday.

Now you know why this is on my mind!

 

Besides a list of favorite foods, food allergies, etc., I received these instructions from the coordinator:

 

Meals should be enough to feed the proud parents, as well as family members who are there helping. By the way, Mommy needs to consume 3,700 calories each day to feed three babies!

 

In order to keep track of who’s taking what—and when—we’re using a wonderful online resource called Take Them a Meal. You may already know about this site, or something similar, but in case you don’t, it may come in handy someday when you or a friend has a situation where putting food on the table is the last thing anyone wants to think about.

 

Times like

  • a new baby (or babies!)
  • illness
  • tragedy
  • death

 

Rather than passing around sign-up sheets or making phone calls, the meal coordinator simply creates a meal schedule then emails the link to friends who might wish to help. People willing to provide food just sign in—and sign up for a date. You even get a reminder email a few days before it’s your turn! And if your schedule or menu changes, just change it online.

 

Have you ever used an online signup for meals?

 

This idea was first shared here years ago as part of my Creative Caring series.  Check it out for many more creative ways to show you care!

 

By the way, if you ever need an online signup for EVENTS or MEETINGS, Signup Genius is a good one! (It will do meals, too, but Take Them A Meal is by far superior when it comes to coordinating meals… Just trying to make your life easier!)

Related posts:

TAKE A MEAL: Day 18 of 31 Days of Creative Caring Creative Caring The Tragic Table: Coordinating Meals for Families in Crisis PUBLIC TRAGEDY: Day 25 of 31 Days of Creative Caring
2 Aug 2017
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Creative Caring
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Comments

  1. Stacey says
    August 3, 2017 at 5:26 PM

    I’m not familiar with this particular site but have participated in a different one. A tornado came through our area last year and many people were displaced in hotels. We were able to take meals to people we had never met by participating in the site we accessed. I don’t know who organized it but it was a wonderful thing.