San Antonio, TX – After his passing in 2016, Methodist Children’s Hospital renamed its annual cereal drive after one of its beloved patients and friends, Rowan Windham. Rowan had a generous heart. He set out to end childhood hunger in the San Antonio community by collecting boxes upon boxes of cereal from his hospital room. Since renaming the cereal drive, the hospital continues to see record support year-over-year. In 2019, the drive collected a record-breaking 277,748 servings of cereal.
Rowan’s story touched the hearts of General Mills - Cheerios™ representatives, inspiring a $50,000 donation. Not only does this donation bring the hospital and Rowan’s family great joy in knowing that Rowan’s spirit and mission continues to reach the masses, it also means more children in San Antonio will get the food they need through the San Antonio Food Bank’s Million Meals for Kids effort.
“The Cheerios™ mission is to create something good and make it go round. It is an honor to partner with Methodist Children’s Hospital to celebrate the life and legacy of Rowan Windham. He is the definition of “good goes round” and Cheerios™ is excited to help carry out Rowan’s goal of ending childhood hunger in San Antonio,” said Summer Lyons, Key Account Manager on the H-E-B team for General Mills.
This year, the cereal drive has taken on a new meaning. The coronavirus pandemic increased food insecurity for thousands of families in our communities. Those families have turned to the San Antonio Food Bank in their time of need. As a result, the food bank’s shelves emptied.
Though we are not collecting physical boxes of cereal this year, we are still collecting funds. Every $1 collected is equal to seven servings of cereal. Those wishing to donate may do so by visiting SAHealth.com/cerealdrive.
About Methodist Children’s Hospital
When their children need to be cared for, families in the San Antonio area put their trust in Methodist Children’s Hospital, which makes us proud to be the most preferred children’s hospital in the region.
Methodist Children’s Hospital opened in 1998 as the first hospital in South Texas built specifically for children’s care.
As the region has grown, so have we–becoming one of the leading U.S. hospitals providing bone marrow and stem cell transplants for children. Additionally, we recently concluded a major expansion project at the hospital that added a seven–story patient tower with 96 private rooms, 40 private, ER treatment rooms, and a 94–bed, Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Our additional world-class children’s services include: pediatric heart surgery, pediatric oncology, pediatric pulmonology, pediatric orthopedics, pediatric neurosurgery, and specialty clinics for children with chronic illnesses.