While the other kids on the hospital’s oncology floor are watching cartoons, 10-year-old Phoebe Dunkle is glued to “Beat Bobby Flay,” “Chopped” and especially “Guy’s Grocery Games.” The nurses queue up cooking shows when they see she’s coming to the emergency room.

A few weeks ago, over hamburgers at Walker’s Tap & Table in Glenwood, Phoebe told her parents it would be cool to learn how to make the buns herself. They were gluten-free, but delicious and soft. For her mom, Erin, a lightbulb went off. “I wonder if she can,” Erin thought.

So Erin went to the Howard County Eats Facebook page with her plea: “My daughter who is battling cancer really wants to experience cooking with a real chef,” she wrote in a post.

The offers from local eateries came in fast, restaurant after restaurant. Phoebe could learn to make Hawaiian food at a local poke spot, or cook at a cafe in Ellicott City, or a pizza place, or a high-end eatery in Columbia. Someone with the fire department offered to let the young girl come to the firehouse and help out the shift chef.

The outpouring showed the best of local businesses.

“How we support our community is how our community supports us,” said owner Jennie Kwon of Blowfish Poké & Grill. On Nov. 26 from 5 p.m. until the eatery closes, Phoebe will act as head chef, with Kwon as her sous chef. Kwon told the girl to throw out the menu and cook whatever she wants.

After seeing Erin’s post, Chad Wells, head chef at Walker’s Tap & Table, didn’t hesitate to invite Phoebe to come help out in the kitchen. “We’re not in the cooking industry, we’re in the hospitality industry,” he said. “Our doors extend way past their tables.” When offered a chance to help a family like the Dunkles, “Your entire soul has to do it.”

Within hours, hundreds of comments had poured in — a mix of offers, patrons tagging their favorite restaurants to alert them to the post, and well-wishers commenting on how the thread had brightened their days. “The love and kindness on this post is making me teary,” someone wrote.

It was a bright spot for the Dunkle family, too, for whom life hasn’t been the same since one evening in May 2023. That night, while her mom cooked dinner, Phoebe, then 8, had a fever and complained of being tired. For the Energizer Bunny of a girl who was just about to run in a 5K and dance in a recital, that was “a big red flag,” says Erin. Phoebe, she said, “never admits to being tired even when she’s really sick.”

Erin called the pediatrician, who at first suspected the infectious mononucleosis. But testing soon revealed the cause as T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Within days, Phoebe was having trouble breathing and starting treatment at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Erin’s fast thinking and maternal hunch helped catch the lymphoma early — which almost never happens for this type of cancer, which has few symptoms until it’s spread and is usually found in young adults.

Phoebe would spend part of her 9th birthday at the hospital and miss much of fourth grade.

“And funny thing about that, I was about one of the few people who didn’t get held back when they had cancer,” she said proudly as she rode on her way from school back to Hopkins last week. With the help of a tutor provided through the nonprofit Cool Kids Campaign, Phoebe was able to stay with her friends at Fulton Elementary.

When she’s scared, Phoebe’s secret weapon is a worn, stuffed pink bear she takes to every hospital appointment. His name is Beary, and Erin got him as a baby shower present. A nurse gave Beary a port to match Phoebe’s so he could get “medicine,” too.

And of course, food has helped.

At home in Howard County, Phoebe comes up with imaginative culinary combinations, using her special blend of Italian seasoning that she likes to use to prepare steak, or breading chicken with Red Lobster biscuit mix. That dish turned out surprisingly well when she made it.

Chemo changes your taste buds, so flavoring her own food helps encourage Phoebe to eat more. “Every time I cook, she seasons it,” Erin said.

Working with a nutritionist, the family has cut back on sugar and increased their intake of healthy proteins and fats to help strengthen Phoebe’s bones as she continues chemo. Gluten is out, too, since it makes it harder for her to recover from treatments. The diet, Erin says, has made a huge difference: Phoebe is back in dance class and doctors have said she can go back to running in the spring.

The food at the hospital isn’t great, so Phoebe’s dad, Chris, brings a small toaster or a waffle maker to cook breakfast. When she gets discharged, the family sometimes goes out to get Ikea meatballs to celebrate. (One of Phoebe’s favorite foods is sushi, which she can’t eat until she’s done with treatment next September.)

Phoebe admits to being excited but also a little nervous about her first time cooking in a professional kitchen. The day after her stint at Blowfish Poké, she will head to Bushel and Peck Kitchen & Bar, where the restaurant will serve her special Phoebe’s steak dinner on the menu. A portion of the proceeds will go to charity, and the diners will include members of the Howard County Eats Facebook page, there to cheer her on.

The Dunkle family is also on the waitlist for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The nonprofit helps make the dreams of critically ill kids a reality, whether they want to become a police officer for a day or go to the beach. The group says that these experiences have manifold benefits: They bring communities together and give kids reason to keep going. “A wish can be that spark that helps these children believe that anything is possible and gives them the strength to fight harder against their illnesses,” says its website.

Last Friday, Phoebe and her parents returned to Hopkins. This time Phoebe didn’t watch the Food Network. She was charting her future, scribbling recipes in her notebook.