07 Feb Dominion Energy Grant Expands Lunches with Love Program
A $15,000 lead grant from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation has expanded Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Richmond’s Lunches with Love program to include serving lunches on weekends at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.
Funds from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation are earmarked to purchase more than 1,500 lunches total, provided by local caterers and restaurants, every weekend of the year. The Lunches with Love program has received additional support for weekend expansion from the Peachtree House Foundation and the Anne C. and Walter R. Robins, Jr. Foundation.
“We are pleased to support RMHC Richmond. These meals will go to families who are going through challenging times emotionally, physically and many times financially. Hopefully, these Lunches with Love will relieve some stress for the families facing a medical crisis,” said Hunter Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. The meals will be purchased through local caterers and restaurants and feed families every weekend.
The Lunches with Love Program began in 2015 as a solution to the food insecurity that often accompanies hospital stays and to date the program has served more than 25,000 lunches. Patient caregivers don’t routinely receive a meal during their stay in the hospital and many are not able to leave their patient’s bedside to purchase food or lack the financial ability to do so. Supported by volunteers, the program delivers meals and snacks directly to pediatric patient rooms for caregivers. Lunches with Love helps to alleviate the cost and stress of trying to find and fund a meal so the caregivers can direct all of their attention to providing support for their sick or injured child. Lunches with Love receives further community support from organizations such as Kroger and The Altria Companies Employees Community Fund.
“Lunches with Love is just one of the many ways RMHC Richmond helps us treat the whole child and family. Thanks to the generosity of Dominion Energy Foundation and RMHC Richmond, parents will have one less worry in the hospital and can spend more time focusing on their children,’ said Elias Neujahr, President, Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.