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Hi, everyone. I think all of you know me as Sarah’s best friend who almost died, Caroline. She was there for me in a way that I can’t actually put in words, but you all know her, so I assume it can suffice to say that she acted in the very way she has for many of you: singularly her, loyal, uncommonly thoughtful, and supportive. Before my surgery, she sent me slippers with a note that said “one foot in front of the other” and texted me every day. She supported me in ways my family even couldn’t. What’s crazy is this kind of love isn’t even surprising when it comes to our Sarah, I know she is deeply beloved by everyone she meets. I’ve watched it our whole long friendship together, marveled at it from the sidelines. She makes me want to be better myself, honestly. I’ve felt that way since the age of fifteen, so privileged to call her my best friend.
So I’ve been thinking of what I can do for her for this third—very exciting!—baby of hers. Not because she can’t handle it – we all know that this baby is a gift to Sarah as much as Sarah is a gift to this baby – but because she is also a woman who takes on a lot. (This is coming from a woman who takes on a lot (me!), too, so I feel personally responsible to help her figure the logistics piece out. But I live about 2,000 miles away so this is all I got.)
I figured out the perfect gift: a gift card to the organic meal subscription service, Sun Basket . I’ve never used it but good friends of mine rely on it (and it has values I know align with hers, so much as a box of food delivered to your door can be), so I am familiar with its quality and interface. My idea was to give her $200 – a stretch for what I can afford for a baby gift, really – but it’s not enough. Looking at their site, that would only get them through less than 2 months of 3 recipes per week for 4 people. She might be still wearing diapers herself when that gift would run out.
So my goal is to give them six months. By rallying together her loving community. I’m only lucky enough to know the inner circle, but I know there are droves of us who want to do something special for her and her family. I imagine what a gift it would be for our Sarah to be able to have 3 meals a week taken care of – as in, her precious time saved by not looking up recipes, not writing lists for Joe, not running to the store, not planning at all. She would still feel in control of her family’s food choices by choosing the weekly recipes online, sorting out their preferences (and her allergies!), but she could hand the box off to Joe, to her nanny, to Kim, or some friend or another stopping by to help.
THE DETAILS OF HOW WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN TOGETHER
How I see this happening: For the month of July, I am going to raise money here on GoFundMe. (Please don’t tell her this is happening. I can’t imagine keeping a secret from her for a month, so I know this is going to be the hardest part.) On August 12, hopefully with the full budget raised, I will be able to give her the printout of this campaign along with all of those who contributed in the form of a card for this massive baby shower present from all of us when I see her for a quick visit in Birmingham as we both visit our in-laws. In terms of logistics, I want to make this happen in a way that is totally hassle-free for them, ranging from my setting up the account to handing them an enormous gift card. By August 1 I’ll have figured out what that simple solution is and report back.
What this goal would buy for her family through Sun Basket: This is a rounded-up budget of their family meal plan for 4 people from their Classic Menu, which provides 18 recipes to choose from per week (check it out here; their most versatile package, it seems to me), enough for three recipes’ worth per week. (For math transparency: a box of this size, according to their website, is estimated at $143.88 plus $6.99 per week shipping cost = $150.87. I rounded out to $150, multiplied by 52 weeks to equal $7,800; divided by 2 = $3,900.) So that means, with this money and this service, she would get a box each week filled with recipes of her selection and the ingredients measured out for those recipes until her unborn kiddo is six months old. (Alternatively, she can pause her membership if they go away for, say, the Christmas holidays, and our gift would stretch beyond six months.) Here is a FAQ from Sun Basket that explains all the details. I know this is expensive (and there are cheaper ones out there), but so is homemade/organic/convenient/carefully sourced food, so it seems worth it to me.
But…What about her allergies? Well, I’ve thought about this a lot. The idea of a third party food thing makes me nervous, because her allergies make me nervous (I mean, she introduced herself to me in the lunch line at camp for this very reason, so I’ve felt like a custodian of this part of her for a very long time), but then again the warning that Sun Basket puts out saying that they process in a facility with nuts, etc, is the very same warning that is on most packaged food she might pick up from a store. I am so cautious about this, in fact, that when I used to send her cookies in high school I would tape the label from the chocolate chips onto the package with exclamation points as if it contained hazardous waste. I remember her laughing at me, too. So I think this probably falls into that category – and you know what? If it doesn’t, and this makes her too nervous, we will have raised a lot of money to hand her nanny as a food budget.
Even though I plan to show up to Nashville for a week to hold her babies and fill her chest freezer in her basement with homemade meals, I still think this service is the perfect gift. And knowing our girl could have just one or two items removed from her spool of a to-do list is actually a personal relief to me, so thank you. With this ask, I beam out to each of you so much love and gratitude. Thank you all for thinking on this idea. If you do contribute, be sure to leave a comment as if signing a card—remember, she will get a printout of this whole thing! With that in mind, knowing she will be reading this: HEY GIRL!!! WE GOT YOUR BACK!!!
Xox
Caroline
So I’ve been thinking of what I can do for her for this third—very exciting!—baby of hers. Not because she can’t handle it – we all know that this baby is a gift to Sarah as much as Sarah is a gift to this baby – but because she is also a woman who takes on a lot. (This is coming from a woman who takes on a lot (me!), too, so I feel personally responsible to help her figure the logistics piece out. But I live about 2,000 miles away so this is all I got.)
I figured out the perfect gift: a gift card to the organic meal subscription service, Sun Basket . I’ve never used it but good friends of mine rely on it (and it has values I know align with hers, so much as a box of food delivered to your door can be), so I am familiar with its quality and interface. My idea was to give her $200 – a stretch for what I can afford for a baby gift, really – but it’s not enough. Looking at their site, that would only get them through less than 2 months of 3 recipes per week for 4 people. She might be still wearing diapers herself when that gift would run out.
So my goal is to give them six months. By rallying together her loving community. I’m only lucky enough to know the inner circle, but I know there are droves of us who want to do something special for her and her family. I imagine what a gift it would be for our Sarah to be able to have 3 meals a week taken care of – as in, her precious time saved by not looking up recipes, not writing lists for Joe, not running to the store, not planning at all. She would still feel in control of her family’s food choices by choosing the weekly recipes online, sorting out their preferences (and her allergies!), but she could hand the box off to Joe, to her nanny, to Kim, or some friend or another stopping by to help.
THE DETAILS OF HOW WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN TOGETHER
How I see this happening: For the month of July, I am going to raise money here on GoFundMe. (Please don’t tell her this is happening. I can’t imagine keeping a secret from her for a month, so I know this is going to be the hardest part.) On August 12, hopefully with the full budget raised, I will be able to give her the printout of this campaign along with all of those who contributed in the form of a card for this massive baby shower present from all of us when I see her for a quick visit in Birmingham as we both visit our in-laws. In terms of logistics, I want to make this happen in a way that is totally hassle-free for them, ranging from my setting up the account to handing them an enormous gift card. By August 1 I’ll have figured out what that simple solution is and report back.
What this goal would buy for her family through Sun Basket: This is a rounded-up budget of their family meal plan for 4 people from their Classic Menu, which provides 18 recipes to choose from per week (check it out here; their most versatile package, it seems to me), enough for three recipes’ worth per week. (For math transparency: a box of this size, according to their website, is estimated at $143.88 plus $6.99 per week shipping cost = $150.87. I rounded out to $150, multiplied by 52 weeks to equal $7,800; divided by 2 = $3,900.) So that means, with this money and this service, she would get a box each week filled with recipes of her selection and the ingredients measured out for those recipes until her unborn kiddo is six months old. (Alternatively, she can pause her membership if they go away for, say, the Christmas holidays, and our gift would stretch beyond six months.) Here is a FAQ from Sun Basket that explains all the details. I know this is expensive (and there are cheaper ones out there), but so is homemade/organic/convenient/carefully sourced food, so it seems worth it to me.
But…What about her allergies? Well, I’ve thought about this a lot. The idea of a third party food thing makes me nervous, because her allergies make me nervous (I mean, she introduced herself to me in the lunch line at camp for this very reason, so I’ve felt like a custodian of this part of her for a very long time), but then again the warning that Sun Basket puts out saying that they process in a facility with nuts, etc, is the very same warning that is on most packaged food she might pick up from a store. I am so cautious about this, in fact, that when I used to send her cookies in high school I would tape the label from the chocolate chips onto the package with exclamation points as if it contained hazardous waste. I remember her laughing at me, too. So I think this probably falls into that category – and you know what? If it doesn’t, and this makes her too nervous, we will have raised a lot of money to hand her nanny as a food budget.
Even though I plan to show up to Nashville for a week to hold her babies and fill her chest freezer in her basement with homemade meals, I still think this service is the perfect gift. And knowing our girl could have just one or two items removed from her spool of a to-do list is actually a personal relief to me, so thank you. With this ask, I beam out to each of you so much love and gratitude. Thank you all for thinking on this idea. If you do contribute, be sure to leave a comment as if signing a card—remember, she will get a printout of this whole thing! With that in mind, knowing she will be reading this: HEY GIRL!!! WE GOT YOUR BACK!!!
Xox
Caroline
Organizer and beneficiary
Sarah Andrews
Beneficiary