A family from SE Alaska will find their stay a little easier with traditional seafood donated by SeaShare to Seattle Children's Hospital/Ronald McDonald House.

SeaShare responded to a call early in 2014 from Melissa Poe (anthropologist at Washington Sea Grant and NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center) who said there was a family with a child at Seattle Children's Hospital that had been there for some time and they were missing their traditional seafood. She wondered if we had anything available. At the time, we had some canned salmon and smoked salmon packs and gladly took them to her. We promised to stay in touch, especially if we had any small quantities of seafood that would be appropriate for additional donation.

In December, Melissa indicated that there was now another family from Alaska at the hospital and hoped that we might have some halibut. We had one case of halibut steaks remaining and took those to the hospital yesterday. Here are a few words from Melissa, "The work you do to get good quality food to communities in need is very important. The Seattle Children's Hospital/Ronald McDonald House program is a unique partnership, and it's been rewarding to help the children and their families find comfort and strength as they face health challenges far from their homes. The family who received halibut yesterday normally fishes for subsistence and keeps a freezer full of salmon and halibut, but since they've had to be down in Seattle for their son's treatment this year, they haven't had any halibut. The family is grateful for the support and are very happy to have halibut."

Thank you to Melissa for for helping SeaShare connect with Seattle Children's Hospital/Ronald McDonald House. We wish the children and their families comfort and improved health in the coming new year.