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In-Hospital Meal Program
Together, we can keep families nourished so they can focus on what matters most — their sick child’s care.
Families with critically ill children face immense challenges in accessing affordable, healthy food during long hospital stays, a situation that became more pronounced during the pandemic. Feed the Love began as a pop-up tent outside our partner hospitals at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Oakland four years ago and has become a lifeline for families.
Thanks to the generous support of local partners and donors, we provide nourishing and balanced meals during lunch and dinner daily, helping ease the financial and emotional stress caregivers endure. Our Feed the Love program will bring the comfort and nourishment of nearly 70,000 meals across our partner hospitals in Mission Bay and Oakland each year.
Our support goes well beyond the care and services offered within the walls of the Ronald McDonald House – we’ve become an entire neighborhood of support providing resources and solutions to the critical and pressing needs of families with sick children.
If I’m not able to eat properly, I’m not able to make the proper decisions. I can’t process information. I’m thinking about food or when I’m going to eat, and her care is going to be affected.``
Support Feed the Love! 
Your gift, regardless of the size, provides nourishment, comfort, and strength when and where families need it most.
Our in-hospital Feed the Love meal program operates inside partner hospitals, just steps away from patient care. RMHC Bay Area staff serve lunch and dinner every weekday to any family member at the hospital. Additionally, special holiday meals and snack packs are provided.
Interested in partnering for our Feed the Love Meal Expansion Project? 
Please Contact Juan Hernández, Vice President, Programs & Community Engagement at juan.hernandez@rmhcbayarea.org or 650.470.6004
The fact that they have dinner and breakfast there means everything. I don’t have to worry about that when I have to worry about everything else.”
Food Insecurity Research Demonstrates the Need to Expand
An RMHC Bay Area Partnership with Stanford School of Medicine
In partnership with Stanford researchers, RMHC Bay Area initiated a study revealing what our front-line staff members have seen for years — food insecurity for families with children in the hospital is an underrecognized crisis. With jobs on hold and lives upended, far too many parents and caregivers struggle to afford to feed their families or access food during hospital stays that can last weeks and months.
With 71% of study respondents reporting that they had yet to use our existing Feed the Love meal program services, we know there is a need to expand.