The December Jennie Day Meal consisted of Cheese Tortellini with Italian Sausage, Cheese Tortellini with Marinara Sauce, and assorted homemade cookies, including Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pizzelles, Italian Ricotta Cheese Cookies, and Italian “S” Cookies. We’d like to thank Ken and JoAnn Lawall for sponsoring the December meal.
For January 2021, the kitchen at the Ronald McDonald House of the Greater Hudson Valley will be closed for renovation, so we will be delivering the January meal “virtually”.
We are also pleased to announce that the 2021 Jennie Day Meal calendar has been filled! Thank you to all our supporters who made this possible. We are currently accepting sponsorships for 2022 on the website at https://a.jenniefoundation.org/meal-sponsorship/.
If you would prefer your contribution have a more immediate impact, you can make a general donation at https://a.jenniefoundation.org/donate/. Any amount will help and is sincerely appreciated!
2020 was a difficult year, with so many people suffering hardships due to Covid-19. Many lost their jobs, their businesses, their loved ones, and some even their own lives to this awful virus. We are especially aware of how difficult it was for families with children who were hospitalized, dealing with the added anxiety of visiting restrictions, fear of infection of their children, and for those families with children at the Maria Fareri Childrens Hospital in Valhalla, NY, the loss of the services of the Ronald McDonald House for three months. Maria Fareri was where Jen was treated, and the Greater Hudson Valley Ronald McDonald House was “home” for us for a good deal of that time.
However, 2020 also showed that people are capable of great kindness, generosity, and heroism during the most challenging times. Even with our ability to hold fundraising events completely shut down in 2020, the generosity of our donors enabled us to accomplish the following:
– 9 Jennie Day Meals, one for each month the Greater Hudson Valley Ronald McDonald House was open
– Therapy Sand and Walmart and Target Gift Cards for the St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside, NY
– Cleaning Supplies, Guest portion of a 60 day stay, and over $2600 in direct assistance for the Greater Hudson Valley Ronald McDonald House
– Exxon, ShopRite, and Amazon Gift Cards for the Maria Fareri Childrens Hospital Family Resource Center
– 6 $500 Jennie Foundation Scholarships for local High School students
– 2 $500 Jennie Foundation Scholarships for Culinary Arts for students at the Culinary Institute of America
All of this was done in Jen’s name, to keep her spirit alive and her memory fresh in our minds and hearts. We hope she is pleased with our work for her, and continually thank those generous souls who make all of it possible.
The Jennie Foundation wishes everyone a peaceful and joyous holiday season, and a happy and healthy New Year. Please stay safe!