LI's The Chloe Belle Foundation Collecting Food For Cancer Patients At SBU Cancer Center

NORTHPORT, NY — Cancer patients often find themselves on a restricted diet, causing emotional and financial stress for the patient and their caretakers. The Chloe Belle Foundation is striving to alleviate some of those concerns with a spring food drive for cancer patients at Stony Brook Cancer Center.

The charity set up an Amazon wishlist so people can purchase food for cancer patients. The food will be shipped to The Chloe Belle Foundation's Northport headquarters. The Lindberg family, creators of the nonprofit, is set to bring the donations to the hospital on April 25.

People may buy food off the wishlist here.

The wishlist was carefully curated by the team at Stony Brook Cancer Center.

The Chloe Belle Foundation was created in honor of Chloe Belle Lindberg, a Northport resident who was only 26 when she died of acute myeloid leukemia in January 2021. She fought the cancer for 13 months after she was diagnosed at age 25.

"I think one of the biggest things that people who have never experienced cancer or taking care of someone with cancer is how big of an issue food can be," Remi Lindberg, president of the foundation and Chloe's big sister, told Patch. "Cancer patients are often sick from treatment and a lot of times, their tastebuds change."

Eating was very difficult for Chloe throughout her diagnosis, said Remi, who was a caretaker for her sister. Chloe had to follow the neutropenic diet, which the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center describes as a diet for people with weakened immune systems.

"[Chloe] couldn’t eat any takeout or fast food," Lindberg said. "On top of that, she was always sick, and everything tasted differently to her. You also have to spend a lot of money on food. It is just such a difficult task for both the patient and caretakers."

The Stony Brook University Hospital Cancer Center offers a pantry.

"I absolutely love that the Stony Brook Cancer Center offers food to patients who may be struggling with food insecurity, may have trouble going out to go buy their own food and cook it or those that are getting treatment for hours and didn’t bring food," Lindberg said. "It is just such a vital resource to patients. This drive is important to me. This drive is really necessary."

Lindberg was at her own appointment at Stony Brook University Hospital when she spotted a flyer about the cancer center pantry needing donations.

"And with anything with TCBF, I just knew right away that was our next venture," she exclaimed.

Lindberg reached out to one of her close contacts in the Stony Brook development team. The charity and hospital exchanged information and set up a drop-off date for the food drive.

The Chloe Belle Foundation has become known for its toy drives, having dropped off several hundred toys to Long Island and New York City hospitals over the past few years. Lindberg said she likes to change things up, so the foundation running its first food drive "just felt so right."

"On top of that, Chloe and I spent MANY hours, days and weeks in the Stony Brook Cancer Center," Lindberg said. "So, I have a strong personal desire to help. We want to do our best to help support the patients and team there. I know what’s it’s like to be there as a caretaker. They take excellent care of the patients but they also take care of the caretakers, too. That’s something that’s important to me, as well."

The Chloe Belle Foundation was founded to bring joy to cancer patients, with a focus on children and young adults, as Chloe was a young adult when she bravely fought cancer. The charity's mission "truly does include everyone," Lindberg said, noting how special it is that cancer patients of all ages stand to benefit from the food drive.

Click here to read a Q&A with The Chloe Belle Foundation.

The drive for Stony Brook University is also nostalgic to Lindberg — the nonprofit's first-ever drive was for the Stony Brook Cancer Center.

"It always feels like pure bliss that there are so many generous wonderful and incredible people who choose to donate to us so that we can continue our mission and ultimately continue Chloe’s memory," Lindberg said. "Any time someone shares something, donates to a drive or donates financially — every time — I take a moment and just feel gratitude. And then I feel Chloe. And that’s a feeling that I savor."