Chicago's Guest House serves Christmas meals for patients away from family at the Guest House

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Jewish husband and wife in Chicago provided free meals for people away from their families on Christmas Monday.

For more than 20 years, the Guest House has been serving holiday meals to patients seeking treatment away from home.

They say when you break bread, you mend bridges.

"At Christmas and at Easter, my wife and I don't celebrate those holidays, but we love the spirit of giving," said Adam Helman, executive director of Guest House.

So this holiday meal, which was served alongside local politicians like State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, is all an effort to show patients and their families living temporarily at the Guest House in Chicago during medical treatment that they are not forgotten.

"Making them feel like people and not a diagnosis," Helman said. "We want them to have a sense of being at home even when they're not at home."

"Having home cooked food right here is better than going to try and find some restaurant on a day like this. It can be very tough for families," said Rep. Ford.

For 74-year-old Edward Hoagland, it's a glimmer of light during what has been a dark, difficult two years at the Guest House for him and his wife Diana.

"My wife had Stage 4 cancer. On top of that, I also was ill with several things that were going on," he said. "I think it's absolutely delightful that these doors can be opened up for people like my wife and I, and helping us to fill some of the needs that we have."

And the act of holiday cheer is a gift that keeps giving even after their plates are wiped clean.

"I want them to remember that someone's thinking about them," Helman said. "Somebody cares about them, and somebody wants to give them a nice experience with the holidays."