Feel Good News: Meal Train for Mashpee Family in Search of Kidney After Bringing Home a Newborn Baby

Mackenzie Ross and Holly Richards are both members of a Cape Cod Facebook group for local moms. The group allows moms to share activities happening on Cape, sell unwanted baby gear, and get much-needed advice regarding everything from pregnancy symptoms to getting a baby to sleep through the night.

A few weeks ago, Mackenzie posted that she wanted to start a meal train for the first few weeks after a family brought home a newborn. She was the recipient of a meal train when she lived in Germany and found it so helpful. She asked if any other moms might be interested in helping out, and was overwhelmed with an outpouring of support.

She also asked for any nominations of moms who might want to receive a meal train. When she heard about the Richard family, she immediately reached out to them.

Holly and Matt Richard have been together since they were teenagers and were expecting their third child. Holly recently became the sole provider for the home after Matt was unable to continue working. Matt had a kidney transplant in 2011 but, in 2016, he was diagnosed with MRSA. Unfortunately his transplanted kidney couldn’t handle the stress, the meds, and all the physical trauma happening in his body, it began to reject, and then lost function. In 2017, Matt had no choice but to go on dialysis again and be placed back on the waiting list for another transplant.

Matt’s blood type is O-negative, which means that the wait for a kidney is five to six years. As Holly says, “That’s five to six years he has to hook up to a machine every single night; five to six years that he has to put his career, and his life on hold.”

But there is hope. A live donor can eliminate that wait. The family have set up a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FindDaddyMattAKidney They are searching for someone with type O-negative blood who would be willing to donate a kidney.

With all of this going on, Holly says it was so amazing to have Mackenzie, who she only knew from Facebook, contact her about a meal train. “I met so many other moms in the area. People were coming over and dropping off food. They say it takes a village and it really does. We have such a great community here on Cape Cod and this really showed it.”

“When hearing about Holly’s due date approaching and the struggles the family is going through with her husband’s health issues, I knew I wanted to get a meal train started as soon as possible,” said Mackenzie.

Holly and Matt’s little girl came two weeks early. Mackenzie jumped into action, rearranging the schedule and making sure those first days at home were a smooth transition with lots of meals ready for the family. “I can’t say enough about her. She is such a wonderful person.”

“No mom ever wants to ask for help, but even a simple meal to help a new mom spend extra time with her new newborn and family means more than anyone could ever imagine,” said Mackenzie, ”With the Cape being such a small, tight-knit community, all moms will be able to receive so much help after having a baby with a meal train set it place.”

About Rebecca Romo

Rebecca Romo hosts Feel Good Mornings weekday mornings from 6-10 am on 99.9 The Q. Originally from New Orleans, she moved to Cape to be with her husband a second generation Cape Codder.



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