CHESAPEAKE, Va. — For many families in Hampton Roads, there is a lot of focus on cooking and enjoying the food on Thanksgiving.
However, there are some people who have to divert their attention to something else, surviving.
On Tuesday, a local church started a new tradition, bringing freshly bought materials for a free Thanksgiving meal to cancer patients.
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Pastor Johnathan Foster of New Mount Olive Baptist Church in Chesapeake says he no longer has dinner conversations with his mom, instead he talks to her through prayer.
When he was 12 years old, his mom died of breast cancer. Since her death, holidays have always been difficult for him and his loved ones.
"Even 20 years since she left us, I'll get teary eyed eating Thanksgiving dinner without her," said Foster.
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For many other families, holidays are hard for other reasons aside from having empty seats at the table. Virginia Cooper is a cancer patient at the Priority Toyota Cancer Center in Chesapeake. She says cancer is constantly on her mind.
"When you look at your loved ones, your family, your friends, and you wonder how much more time you have with them," said Cooper.
This week Cooper and 19 other patients received thanksgiving baskets from Pastor Foster and his team. Which was packed with donated groceries for a free thanksgiving meal from the church.
"We are living in a time when groceries are so expensive," said Foster. "Then on top of that, if you are a patient you are dealing with medical bills."
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Nancy Green says one morning she woke up and her world was changed forever.
"I went to put my foot down and I noticed my foot was giving way," explained Green. "I went to the emergency room. Originally, I walked in with a hurt foot and walked out with a brain tumor,"
While the baskets aren't physical medicine for her treatment, Dr. Matthew Sinesi says sometimes the best medicine is a bit of a morale boost.
"Cancer can take an emotional toll on patients, so this sort of kindness is very uplifting," said Dr. Sinesi.
Pastor Foster says his hope for the baskets was to ease the minds of the cancer patients, "More than anything we wanted to take stress off the table for these people and replace it with turkey and some stuffing."
