She found Cuisine for Healing as a cancer patient. Now she volunteers for the group
When Precious Wureh first talked to the people running Cuisine for Healing, she was doing so as a client who needed help eating healthy during cancer treatment.
Cuisine for Healing is a Tarrant County nonprofit organization that delivers meals to people who are undergoing treatment for diseases and educates people on the effects of a healthy diet.
Now, three years in remission from breast cancer, Wureh is one of the organization’s delivery volunteers and a member of its board of directors.
“There’s no other way to say it than she’s an unbelievable cheerleader to us,” Cuisine for Healing Executive Director Lori Henson said. “All of our clients adore her because she’s giving and kind and she’s been through the same thing. And she’s always working to raise money and get the word out.”
Wureh said it was just a natural progression for her.
“I saw what they did when I was going through my recovery, how helpful and beneficial it is to have fresh food delivered to you, I was in the position where I couldn’t do much for myself and they did it from the heart,” Wureh said. “I decided I was going to do what I could to make sure not just I but many of their other clients got meals.”
Her dedication to the organization is what makes Wureh a Star-Telegram Hometown Hero, Henson said.
Hometown Heroes is sponsored by Lockheed Martin, which is providing $1,000 each to the 28 people selected by the Star-Telegram to be featured in the weekly series.
Henson said Wureh’s dedication to Cuisine for Healing makes her one of the most vital members of the team.
Because she was a client at the beginning, Wureh knows what it’s like to be the person who needs assistance, Henson said. She understands the struggles that may come with asking for help, the difficulties of getting it and ways to make the experience better for clients.
“She is actually our first outreach food client to serve on our board, the first to receive our services for free and then be on the board,” Henson said. “Who better to serve on the board than somebody who knows what our clients need?”
Her input is especially helpful when it comes to the way the food is prepared and tastes. Wureh, who is on a strict diet similar to that followed by clients of the program, isn’t afraid to offer constructive criticism on the meals.
“Prior to COVID the board got to test our new items and she would be a great critic and gives suggestions on what she would like to see and what she likes about it,” Henson said.
Wureh said it’s important to her that the food is not only nutritious but also enjoyable.
“If I don’t tell the truth about this food I’d be lying to hurt myself,” Wureh said. “I eat this food every day. I buy this food, I deliver this food to people who need it. It’s so important to me that it tastes good, that it’s good for you.”
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wureh had to take a step back.
She’s still undergoing regular treatment to make sure her cancer stays away, and she had concerns about continuing to serve with a weakened immune system.
In recent months, though, she’s returned to her delivery routes. Wureh dons personal protective equipment, loads meals into her car and hits the road to drop off food throughout the county.
“To go back out there and get to delivering food and seeing smiling faces, it breaks my heart in a good way,” Wureh said. “It makes me happy that other people are happy.”
And her involvement doesn’t end with her position on the board or her work as a delivery volunteer.
Wureh visits churches and other nonprofit organizations in the area to inform them about the program, its needs and its ability to help others.
She also does anything she can to help encourage others, Henson said.
She’s participated twice in Cuisine for Healing’s Survivors in Style talent show and Dinner Party for Life. It’s all rewarding to her, she said, but the most important thing is the relationships she’s built.
“Cuisine is the family that I never really had,” Wureh said. “They are such wonderful people, I say this all the time that God blessed me by putting me where I am today.”
Her love for the people she works with and those she serves is obvious by the constant smile on her face, Henson said.
“No matter the financial hardships she might be facing, or the pain she’s feeling, or the mental health struggles she might be having, she’s always got a smile,” Henson said.
Wureh said she’s able to do that because of her faith in God and daily prayers asking for strength to handle anything she may face in her day. She also believes a smile can do wonders, not just for herself but for those around her.
“Smiling doesn’t heal by itself, it doesn’t make the pain and depression go away, but it can help you find the positives to help you overcome what’s going on in your life,” Wureh said. “It won’t change the fact that something hurts, but it can help you change your attitude and can help change someone else’s.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 6:00 AM.