Ronald McDonald House is something most of us have heard of, but how many of us really know what it is, or what they do there?
I know I didn’t.
The “Magic Room”
RMH has 30 rooms that they rent out to families who are in town while their sick children are getting medical care. They charge $12/night for the service.
The families are responsible for their own meals, and after spending full days at the hospital, those meals usually consist of a quick bite out or opening a can of something before crashing into bed.
The dining area
The average time that a family checks in for is about 2 weeks – so that would be approximately 14 straight days of eating out 3 meals a day. That is not only very costly, but probably not the healthiest idea either.
Turns out that RMH promotes something called Home For Dinner; a program where a group of volunteers plan, shop for, and prepare a much needed family-style meal for families as they struggle with endless rounds of hospital visits.
What a fantastic idea!
The crew hard at work-photo by Dong Kim
As soon as I learned about this I rallied a team of kitchen geniuses that would be up for cooking a full meal for 30 families: of course my wife Robyn, and our good friends Carmen and Dongbu. And I just had to scan my friends list on Twitter to fill out the team with Jerry, Eric and his wife Angela, Addie, Chris, and Erin.
The whole crew
We decided on Shepherd’s Pie with coleslaw on the side and cookies for dessert.
When we got to the kitchen, we decided on the ‘divide & conquer’ method…
Robyn and I were the potato masters:
Chris and Erin were “Team Meat” and cooked up all the ground beef* and the accompanying veg to fill out our pie:
Jerry, Eric and Angela took control of the coleslaw:
Carmen threw together some chocolate and caramel cookies:
And Addie kept busy doing whatever else needed doing:
Before long, the smell of our cooking started to bring a few guests wandering around to check out the scene. One of the house-guests introduced himself to me and thanked us for our efforts. We chatted about what brought his family to the house and it became apparent just how much a little bit of normalcy in the form of a home cooked meal meant to these families. He told me that they were teaching in Japan when they discovered a problem with one of their children. They had to fly home for treatment, and they had been staying at Ronald McDonald House ever since-for about 4 weeks already.
Can you imagine the stress of not only having a seriously ill child, but also having your entire life turned upside down in order to facilitate the treatment? Having a more home-like place to stay like RMH instead of a standard hotel room must be a huge relief.
Back in the kitchen, with all the separate ingredients completed, it was time to assemble the final product – Chris found a cookie mould in a drawer and decided he’d make a few potato clovers on one pie. I went with the fork ridged design that my mom used to make all the time growing up. It brings back really good memories for me so It felt good to share that with everyone, even if I didn’t mention that’s why I did it.
Chris’ Shepherds Pie- photo by Dong Kim
My version of the Shepherds Pie- photo by Dong Kim
Into the oven the giant Shepherds Pies went, and we finished our clean-up.
Finally, the guests assembled in the dining room and we served dinner.
The whole experience was fantastic from start to finish, and I really enjoyed the immediate feedback from the diners. We got to sit and eat with everybody else, and it was really heartwarming to watch the parents and the kids gulping down what we had made.
Especially the cookies.
Hey, you’re not a sick kid!
Robyn and I will definitely be back to do it again, and a lot of the crew expressed interest in another round as well.
Interested in forming your own team and getting involved? Use the link at the top of the page and get the ball rolling! If you’re on Twitter, give Jen Panteluk a follow and I’m sure she would be happy to give you a tour of the facility and answer any questions.
And be sure to check out Carmen’s recount of the day too!
*A huge shout out goes to Corey and Amanda Meyer, owners of stellar local butcher shop Acme Meat Market at 9531-76 ave. The always community minded and unselfish duo donated the 15 pounds of ground beef we used in the Shepherds Pie.
That meat was no small part of why we received compliments such as “that was the best Shepherds Pie I’ve ever had”. Robyn and I get all our meat from there, and there is nothing better than getting fantastic products from a local shop owned by such an awesome young family. I suggest you give them a try.
Great post… and a great way to give back.
Thanks, Christine. It was so fun, and we are looking forward to doing it again soon.
Wow, you guys are amazing. What a great way to give back. Food is such a great way to connect and share, and this is the prefect example of how it can be done. Hats off to your crew and ACME Meat Market for making this happen.
If you are ever short a few hands or just looking to do this more regularly, feel free to drop me a line. We would love to help out for such a great cause.
PS. The fork ridge design is a classic!
Thanks, Kathleen. I’ll definitely keep you in mind for the next round.
What a great cause to give your time to! You guys are awesome (and that Shepherd’s Pie is making my mouth water!). :o)
Thanks! It’s all in the great beef from Acme…
You and your crew are amazing! Thank you again for coming out to participate in the Home for Dinner program – we’d be happy to have you back again 🙂
And love the post!
We will be seeing you again soon, Jen. We had a blast, and can’t wait for a repeat performance. Now to figure out what to make….
Love the post! Thanks for giving back in such a meaningful way to your local Ronald McDonald House. A great meal like Shepherds Pie at RMHC take comfort food to a whole new level!
Thanks Lauren. What can we do to top it next time?
That’s such a great program. We know a few families that have had to stay at the ronald mcdonald houses and I cannot imagine what they would have done if those houses hadn’t been around.
The food looks amazing!
Thanks Stephanie. The key is to assemble a great team, then let them do all the work while you stand around tweeting. 😉
You guys are pretty amazing. We have some family that stayed in a RMH for a while and it’s the only way they were able to keep things relatively normal for their family during a very long out-of-town hospital stay. It’s a great organization and you all are wonderful for helping out like that.
Shana, you set the benchmark for awesomeness… we are just trying to keep up.
Thanks for sharing, and for giving as a group to the amazing families and community of our #yeg Ronald McDonald House… I, too, have loved every moment of being of service at ‘my favourite house’ and am looking forward to being back there this coming Tuesday. There is something so soul satisfying in the act of preparing a meal for somebody in need… everybody wins! Cheers!!
I love that people are getting excited to participate in this program. I’d love to see dinner served 365 days a year.
That’s amazing! You should feel proud of yourself. You’ve inspired me to look up their local spot here – maybe I can rally a few friends as well. I did know what RMH does, but I had no idea of this great volunteer opportunity. Thanks for sharing!
Heydare! Read up the article in the Metro last week. Would love to volunteer and help out. Can I do this solo/along with my boyfriend or would you prefer I get a team of peeps? you can reach me at jillibeans_n_butterflies@hotmail.com
Thanks,
Jill
You would need to contact Ronald McDonald house for those questions, but I recommend you get involved as it was a blast! Thanks for stopping by the blog!
Great post! I hope to do the same this coming sunday. Let me know if you need more volunteers.
Excellent blog here! Also your site loads up fast!
What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to
your host? I wish my website loaded up as quickly as yours
lol