The Ronald McDonald House

I love to cook. I don’t think it gets any simpler than that. So, when I first heard about The Ronald McDonald House dinner program, I wanted to be a part of it. The task is very easy…cook dinner for guests of the house, store the leftovers, and ensure the kitchen is clean prior to leaving for the night. Okay, in all honesty, I could have done without the cleaning part. I’m the typical male who enjoys making the mess, but would rather conceal it with newspaper than clean it up.

Chopping veggies for the meal

Anyhow, this program was brought to my attention about six weeks ago. I immediately contacted the house to schedule a date and recruit other volunteers to showcase their culinary skills in a friendly environment. Within a few hours, we had a full team composed of seven adults and four children! About a week prior to our date, we shared our menu ideas to try and cover the different tastes of the individuals who were staying at the house.

Volunteers Taylor and Asia pose for a picture

The day of our dinner, my son and I began cooking our barbacoa, red rice, corn and oatmeal raisin cookies in the morning. This was a great opportunity for my son and I to spend some time together while serving other people. I mean, the Ronald McDonald House is “the cornerstone program of RMHC, and provides temporary housing for families who travel to Las Vegas to receive critical medical treatment for their children” (www.rmhlv.com). These families are already involved in a stressful, intimidating situation so a warm, home cooked meal isn’t a tremendous expectation. And, amid the busyness of the volunteers’ everyday lives, we weren’t obligated to prepare dinner at the house. We all opted to cook at our homes and transport to the house only using their facilities to warm the meal.

Waiting for dinner to warm up

Rules of the house state that dinner must be served by 6:00 PM, so we all agreed to show up at 5:30 PM. Since I arrived slightly past that (Nascar traffic!), the kitchen was already busy when I walked in. One family was chopping vegetables for their veggie tray and another was heating their dishes. Everything smelled really, really good! We got to work heating our portions and by 6:00 PM, everything was laid out ready for guests to eat. At 6:45 PM, we (the volunteers) sat down to eat as well. At 7:15 PM, we began cleaning up, and with eleven people helping, it wasn’t too bad. By 7:40 PM, we were taking a tour of the house.

I was absolutely amazed at the amount of donations the house receives. Everything from food to board games to quilts (every child guest leaves with one) is graciously contributed by outside people or agencies. There is always room for more, however, as the Ronald McDonald House refuses to turn guests away, even covering hotel costs for families when the house is full. In my opinion, the opportunity to collectively prepare and serve a meal with great people was enough to entice me to participate. Doing so for an appreciative group of guests was an added benefit!

~ Jason

If you're interested in volunteering to help the Ronald McDonald House they have a great "GREEN" opportunity for Go Green month.  Click HERE for all the details and to sign up.  You can also find out how to connect with the Ronald McDonald House HERE.