Article posted: 11/20/2012 8:17 AM

Fox Valley Food for Health cooks for cancer patients

Buy this photo Buy this photo
next prev 8 of 9
   

A sautéed emerald greens dish is cooked up in the Roquette America kitchen by Geneva High School students.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Sliced sweet potatoes are tossed with olive oil and seasonings in the Roquette America kitchen in Geneva. Geneva High School students prepare meals for cancer patients through a program called Fox Valley Food for Health.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Nutritionist and program director Mary Fremgen, center, works with Geneva High School students in the Roquette America kitchen in Geneva. Students prepare meals for people with life-threatening illnesses registered with Fox Valley Food for Health.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Geneva High School student Olivia Block, 17, mixes a topping for a chicken dish in the Roquette America kitchen in Geneva. Through a new program called Fox Valley Food for Health, student volunteers prepare meals for cancer patients.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

A couscous salad is mixed in the Roquette kitchen in Geneva. The meals are all plant-based, although they do include chicken or fish, and are healthy.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Program director Susan Leigh of Geneva helps Geneva High School students Jessica Prainito, Nila Kannankeril and Anna Green, all 16, while cooking a poached pear dessert at the Roquette kitchen in Geneva. The meals made were for seven cancer patients.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Volunteer Mia Gerace, 14, measures lemon and lime juice for a fish recipe in the Roquette America kitchen in Geneva.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Gallery Image

The menu board for this week's meals are on display in the Roquette America kitchen in Geneva, while Lindsay Whitted, 16, works on a dish. Students prepare meals for cancer patients with Fox Valley Food for Health.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

Nutritionist Mary Fremgen helps Mia Gerace, 14, with a fish dish while Olivia Block, 17, works on a chicken dish in the Roquette America kitchen in Geneva. The meals, which are delivered to cancer patients in the Fox Valley, contain healthy and fresh ingredients.

Laura Stoecker | Staff Photographer

About this Article

The countdown to Thanksgiving Day has begun. But for some with cancer, the very thought of preparing a big meal -- or even an everyday meal -- is too difficult to imagine. Dietitian Mary Fremgen and executive Susan Leigh have joined to create Fox Valley Food for Health, a new not-for-profit program that provides weekly plant-based meals (with fish or chicken) to those in need, created by high school culinary students.