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Cooking Up Hope

Amy Zhang and Sarah Roe
Sep 18, 2017
2 min read

In December 2007, the Richard M. Schulze Family American Cancer Society Hope Lodge opened its doors in Minneapolis to provide 41 private guest rooms, free of charge, to cancer patients and caregivers who reside at least 40 miles away while they are undergoing active cancer treatment. Fostering a home-like environment, the Hope Lodge facility is equipped with a community dining room, kitchen, family room, library and laundry facilities. The Hope Lodge community also offers guests a wide variety of cancer programs and services that provide information, resources and support to ease the cancer journey.

Last week 6 medical students from the University of Minnesota hosted a Taco Bar at the Hope Lodge. Students arrived at 4:30 to begin preparing food - chicken and steak on the grill marinated with taco seasoning and lime juice, rice, black beans, fajita veggies and plenty of fixings. Once the food was ready, we began serving the patients and their caregivers. We had the taco serving station organized in a line for the patients to come through. As they came through the line to be served, they told us their stories, where they came from, and why they were in Minneapolis. They raved about the delicious smells of the food and talked to us about medical school and cancer. About 50 residents came to dinner that night, and there was enough food for seconds, and thirds for the patients and their caregivers.

The Hope Lodge is an incredibly special place. Not only is it free of charge for residents, but it also runs entirely on donations. They have a community food area where someone had brought in fresh veggies from their garden, they had recently updated their gym thanks to Wells Fargo, and Best Buy recently donated TVs for each of the guest rooms. Even the cleaning is done primarily by volunteers. Most significantly, it was inspiring to meet the residents and to see how positive and friendly they were, even while undergoing chemotherapy. They were all grateful to have a place to stay while in town for treatment and for all of the community supports and volunteers offered through Hope Lodge. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of for an evening.