St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Summer Meals Program and Caps4Kids
Title: Summer Meals and CAP4Kids: Free Lunches and Free Agency
Student Interns:
Mayank Chauhan
Drexel University College of Medicine
Wallis Guo
Drexel University College of Medicine
Academic Preceptor:
Stacy Ellen, DO, FAAP
Drexel University College of Medicine, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children
Community Preceptor:
Daniel R. Taylor, DO
St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children
Community Site:
Established in 1875, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children is an important institution in pediatric healthcare throughout the Philadelphia region. The hospital is known for its exceptional pediatric programs and team of specialized healthcare professionals who provide compassionate care to children and their families. As part of its commitment to improving the health and well-being of the community, St. Christopher’s collaborates with Nutritional Development Services (NDS), a program of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. For more than four decades, NDS has worked to reduce food insecurity by partnering with various faith-based and community organizations to distribute millions of meals each year to families and individuals facing food insecurity.
Team’s Experience:
The Bridging the Gaps student interns worked to ameliorate nutrition access issues, which can be challenging for millions of households nationwide, through the summer meals program. The meals, supplied federally through the Nutritional Development Services (NDS), are crucial to ensuring continuity in holistic health efforts for children during some of their most developmentally demanding years, outside of the school calendar. The interns also worked to maintain and expand the CAP4Kids website, hoping to create a one-stop shop that fits the needs of a city as diverse as Philadelphia. Altogether, the interns’ work emphasized a growing approach to improving the complex social drivers of health that are often predictive of medical outcomes.
Reflections
CAP4Kids and the summer meals play an integral part in offering the resources toward improved health and well-being across socioeconomic backgrounds. Every time a parent at the hospital smiles in recognition of the food their child is receiving, we are reminded of the rich history of these lunches within the Philadelphia community, and its generational impact is undeniable. While our interactions with the families are fulfilling, our time spent navigating a vast database like CAP4Kids offers even greater limitless possibilities for its use. The common theme uniting the two is our privilege to integrate within the communities both inside and outside of St. Christopher’s to offer up essential freedom of choice, using resources that might otherwise go unnoticed by their targeted demographics.
Mayank Chauhan
My experience with my BTG site has had a lasting impact on both my personal and professional development. Working with the summer meals program at St. Christopher’s Hospital and with Cap4Kids gave me a broader understanding of the importance of community resources in Philadelphia. It reinforced the importance of addressing social needs, especially among vulnerable populations. It has been wonderful working at this site and seeing the smiles on the faces of children and their parents as they receive their lunches. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to interact with the families and staff, all of whom have been extremely welcoming. Through my work with Cap4Kids, I learned the importance of connecting families with reliable community resources. Updating and verifying these resources showed me how access to accurate information can help families navigate challenges and obtain the support they need. This BTG experience reminded me that meaningful change often begins with ensuring people have access to the support they need, both inside and outside of the hospital.
Wallis Guo
