About Spoonful of Comfort

The call came on an autumn day in October 2007 that changed Marti Wymer’s life… She had returned to her home in Florida the previous day from visiting her mother in New Brunswick, Canada. When she picked up the phone she assumed it was like every other follow-up call she had received over the years from her mom checking in about her long day of travel. It did not take long for her to figure out that this call was different. This call was not one of reassurance, but one that led to deep distress. Marti’s mother told her that she was just diagnosed with Lung Cancer.

Her initial reaction was one of shock, fear and panic. She immediately thought about how she would get right back on the plane and return to New Brunswick to personally attend to her mother as she faced her horrible illness. Then, reality sunk in. She was a mother herself with two young children in school and there was no way she could drop her life to attend to her mom. Feeling upset and helpless, Marti knew that if she couldn’t be there with her, she needed to do something!

She immediately began surfing the internet for a way to send her mom a little something from her heart. She looked into sending flowers but for some reason they seemed impersonal. She looked into beautiful fruit baskets, but nothing felt appropriate. She wanted to show her mom how much she cared about her and in some way comfort her, even from her far away home in Florida. The thought of homemade chicken noodle soup kept coming to her. It was what her mom had always given her to offer comfort, but how could she send it to her? It was that sad afternoon that the idea for Spoonful of Comfort was born.

Just six short weeks later, with Marti at her side, her mother passed.

As Marti’s love for her mother led to both deep grief and intense gratitude, she felt a strong commitment to honor her. To accomplish that, she decided to pursue the idea of “Spoonful of Comfort” to help others share their love and concern for their loved ones in a meaningful way. Since the first jar of chicken noodle soup was sent, Marti has found that her idea of caring for the sick expanded immediately to gifts from the heart for many reasons including a child away at college, a friend just having a baby, an associate coming home from surgery, and a simple remembrance for those who have everything.

Today, Spoonful of Comfort provides chicken noodle soup and other comfort items to people who need a way of personally caring for their loved ones and associates from afar. Marti and her staff hand scribe messages of concern, personally tie bows and carefully package every order as if it is for someone they love. Those that find themselves on the receiving end of Spoonful of Comfort open a beautiful presentation that immediately warms their hearts… until the warmth can get to their tummies.