Bianca here. Tonight, I went with a couple Relay for Life Chairs to the Philadelphia Hope Lodge, about 40 minutes outside the city. The Hope Lodge is a place where cancer patients and their caregiver can stay while they are going through treatment. Like a hotel, each patient has their own furnished bedroom, meals, a fitness center, cozy lounge rooms, a meditation room, etc. It is really a beautiful place meant to both inspire its inhabitants and also provide a warm, welcoming environment. There are 37 rooms in this particular lodge, though there are 31 Hope Lodges across the US. Tonight, the UPenn Relay Committee cooked for all of the patients in the lodge. Lots of us made pasta dishes. A couple of our Chairs who had a little more time actually made lasagna, stuffed peppers, chicken, and a macaroni and cheese casserole! I ended up making a trip to the open 24/7 grocery store down the street around midnight last night and got some frozen meatballs and sauce. Not nearly as good as Dad's or Nana's, but I figured it would complement the three trays of pasta we had. Unfortunately my camera died so I only got this one photo.
We ate dinner with the patients and it was nice chatting with them. All of them are so strong and I cannot even imagine what it must be like to be going through such a scary, draining, and emotional experience. We were all glad we were able to put smiles on their faces. We wish them all the best of luck and hope to volunteer there again soon.
http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/SupportProgramsServices/HopeLodge/index
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