10 Years! {GIVEAWAY POST}

JANUARY 12, 2018  /  MAUREEN WITMER  / 

10 Years! {GIVEAWAY POST}

Rachel was enjoying dessert with friends after Christmas caroling at a nursing home. The 31-year old mother of 4 was perfectly healthy; no one had any reason to think that night in December of 2007 would be different than any other. But it was. Rachel suddenly collapsed at the party. She was rushed via ambulance to a local hospital and, soon after, flown to a larger facility. She spent 3 weeks there recovering. She had experienced a sudden cardiac arrest.

As word got out about what had happened, the offers to help poured in from friends and members of the community. Phone calls and emails flooded the home of Rachel's dear friend, Adina Bailey. Many people wanted to bring dinner for Rachel's husband, young children, and in-laws who were helping. As the inquiries continued to come, Adina felt overwhelmed with coordinating everything. She knew there had to be a better way to organize all that people were offering to do but she couldn't find anything. Adina had a tech-savvy friend who she knew could help. She called Scott Rogers and on January 12, 2008, TakeThemAMeal.com was born.

10 Years
 
Adina Bailey and Scott Rogers

Rachel returned home and, thankfully, after a few months, no longer needed meals. Once her meal schedule was finished, however, Adina and Scott realized that meal scheduling was not just needed when there was a sudden tragedy. There are many uses and needs for an online scheduling tool- when babies are born, after a death, when friends are receiving medical treatments, and many more. Before they knew it, word was spreading. People who used the site once to take someone a meal appreciated how easy it was to use and would often use it later to coordinate a meal schedule.

As usage continued so did many thoughtful user suggestions. In December of 2010, TakeThemAMeal launched its sister site, www.PerfectPotluck.com, a free online tool used to simplify the process of organizing group meals. A few years after that, an extensive recipe section (including categories for specific dietary restrictions and container recommendations to make transporting easier) was added. Most recently, www.SendThemAMeal.com was created so that users can provide nutritious meals for loved ones, even when they don't live close by.

Over the past 10 years the team at TakeThemAMeal (5 team members) have seen some incredible things happen. The site is sometimes used when during national tragedies/disasters happen but most often is used in the everyday; when your friend loses her dad, when your neighbor has a baby, when your co-worker is diagnosed with cancer. In your community, your small piece of the world, you're making a difference in the lives around you. You're caring for people at one of the most basic levels, by providing them with food, sustenance, energy, to keep going when things are hard. We have loved watching you care for one another. It is nothing short of inspirational.

To celebrate our anniversary, and to say THANK YOU for loving each other so well, we're doing a giveaway! Simply comment below, here on the blog, on our Facebook page, and/or on our Instagram page and you'll be entered to win a free meal shipped from our store to you AND to a friend. 5 winners (10 meals total) will be announced on Monday, January 15.

Thank you for 10 wonderful years and here's to many more!


Read other recent articles by Maureen Witmer:


Back to all blog posts
 
 

Adina & Maureen
Adina & Maureen

Welcome! We're thrilled you stopped by. Our own joys and sorrows have taught us that a well-timed meal delivered by a friend is one of the best gifts imaginable. In this space, we share our favorite recipes to take to friends, meal-taking tips, and other ways to care for those who are dear to you.

Subscribe to the TTAM Blog...

 YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

Helpful Posts

Recent Posts...

Visit TakeThemAMeal.com's profile on Pinterest.
 

Coordinating a meal for a group?
Try PerfectPotluck.com
!