Newton Chef Hosts Benefit for Boston Children's Hospital

Patch file photo (submitted)

It’s hard to keep a daily routine during the holiday season, and even harder with kids. It’s especially hard when your child is sick.

Having spent time with his son at Boston Children’s Hospital’s hematology, oncology and stem cell transplant units during the holidays, it’s something that Paul Turano, executive chef and owner of Tryst in Arlington and Cook in Newton, knows all too well.

Both Turano’s children have Severe Combined Immune Deficiency Syndrome (SCIDS), and when his son was just two months old he had a bone marrow transplant at Boston Children’s Hospital that saved his life.

He wants to give back to the hospital that helped his son, and family. Turano is holding a holiday fundraiser for the Patient and Family Resource Room, a program that helps provide services to families whose children are being treated at Boston Children’s Hospital Oncology and Hematology Center.

In cooperation with Boston Children’s Hospital, Turano has set up a branded donation page online and will be encouraging holiday donations for the family resource program from Dec. 1 through Dec. 31.

To donate, guests can visit the donation page online on either one of the restaurant’s webpages. In exchange for donating, Turano will give donors a gift certificate to Cook or Tryst (for up to $20) with proof of donation.

“I can’t emphasize how much The One Mission Resource Room helped my family and I when we were going through this difficult time. It’s because of their team and services that we were able to maintain a sense of normalcy and routine, and I want to be able to give that back to other families that are going through it,” said Chef Turano in a statement.

Funded through donations from area businesses and families, The One Mission Resource Room is staffed by a patient and family educator who can help patients and families learn about their medical treatment. Receiving treatment for cancer and other serious disorders can keep families in the hospital for weeks and months on end, a process that takes a toll on their emotions.

Read more about The One Mission Resource Room, which ensures that families who pass through the Hematology, Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant, Neuro-oncology and Intensive Care units have the help they need at what is probably the most difficult time in their lives.