PHILADELPHIA – What would you do if you or your relative needed an organ transplant?  What would you do if you wanted to donate an organ to a relative?  What would you do if you lived hours from the hospital and had to be there on numerous days for doctors’ appointments, tests, and procedures?   Gift of Life Family House provides a “home away from home” for transplant patients and their families.  Located within walking distance of Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia, Gift of Life Family House offers transplant patients and their families rooms to stay in at an unbelievably low cost.  They also operate a Home Cooked Heroes Program where groups can come in and prepare meals for the residents.  The residents then get a hot, home-cooked meal for free.

North Penn FBLA provided the dinner meal for the residents of the Gift of Life Family House on Wednesday, February 19.  FBLA students planned the menu, made a grocery list, and purchased the items needed to cook the meal.  The menu the students came up with was:  baked breaded chicken strips, buttered noodles, cucumber and tomato salad, steamed broccoli, buttered carrots, biscuits, apple pie, and pecan pie.  They also provided a variety of drinks for the 55 residents.   Some students volunteered to make some of the items ahead of time; other items were cooked fresh at the house.  We arrived at 4:00 p.m. and had to have dinner ready to serve by 6:00.  They had four spacious, fully-equipped kitchens for us to work in.  Everyone was happy getting to prepare a meal for the residents of the Gift of Life Family House.