Local family donates meals to cancer patients at UofL for Thanksgiving

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Tommy and Alex Gift have been providing Thanksgiving meals for patients and their families for the past eight years in memory of their mother, Mary Jane.

She died of cancer in 2010. Tommy Gift said his family established the Mary Jane Gift Quality of Life Fund at UofL Health’s to help patients and their families enjoy life while facing a cancer diagnosis.

”Just to let them know; all these patients here, and the families and all the staff that there are people out there like my brother and I that they don’t know, and they may never meet, but that there are other people out there that are pulling for them,” Tommy Gift, Co-Founder of the Mary Jane Gift Quality of Life Fund said.

This year, they provided 50 meals of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, desserts and more.

”That that matters to somebody in a journey that you didn’t ask for,” Shircliff said. “So, somebody’s got my back just a little bit on Thanksgiving.”

Each year, the Gift brothers also host an annual volleyball tournament, Spike it to Cancer, to raise money for the fund. The event includes both a pro and amateur division.

Money from the fund also supports short-term housing for BMT patients and their families who require lengthy treatment plans and must stay nearby following discharge from the hospital.

To donate to the Mary Jane Gift Qualify of Life Fund, click or tap here.

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