Ronald McDonal House - Meal Donations

[Juliah]

Any other suggestions on things to do for the families that might make the meal more special?? What about supplying single serve items they can take with them?

When we stayed at RMH, it meant a lot to us when the people who brought in meals also sat down and chatted with us. We were nine hours from home and stressed. The meals were absolutely wonderful to come back to, exhausted after appointments at the hospital; having someone to talk to (and get our minds off medical problems for a little while) was icing on the cake.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

We do shredded beef "french Dip" sandwiches in the crock pot that would be good. You could cook them a differn't stages so one batch would be done while the other was cooking. Paired with a green salad and some soup. Another suggestion is a baked potato bar.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-slow-cooker-french-dip/detail.aspx

 

[dthogue]

Hi to everyone and OP - First, RMHC is always grateful for donations and volunteer support. RMHC relies on a network of well over 30,000 volunteers to help keep the Ronald McDonald House programs running every year. Without the volunteers, we simply couldn't do what we do everyday.

Let me say, I work for Ronald McDonald House Charities in Illinois. There are actually a couple of rules that we really adhere to with respect to meals. First, meals must be prepared in the Ronald McDonald House kitchen. The reason revolves around food safety. Simply put, we don't know what someone's kitchen at home looks like and, more importantly, how long something was in someone's car. The only exception is, as someone pointed out, food that comes from a commercial kitchen setting (local bakery for example). It would be all too easy for something to go bad in a trunk or something. This included pre-cooked food at home (e.g. pot pie, chicken, etc. doesn't meet the safety standards).

Second, please try and keep things separate. As someone else pointed out, there could be nut allergies, seafood/shellfish allergies, etc. or just vegan/vegetarians and we want everyone to try and eat when possible. You are correct, that not everyone eats at the same time, so things that reheat easily are always appreciated.

Single serve items (e.g., pretzels) are always appreciated as snack items too. Usually, the different RMH programs will have wish-lists posted online for these items. Each program needs something different just based on what is in their pantry.

In terms of breaking up the girls, 5 or 6 could work on a taco bar (great idea!), a couple on a salad, some on pasta, some on dessert, etc. One thing that is very helpful for dessert items (for example), is to put single brownies or two or three cookies in individual baggies when cooked and cool. Due to the flu, we are trying to keep individual house guests from "reaching in" to a community plate setting right now. Guest families don't think about it - until they see how it's done. Then they apprciate it.

Thanks again for agreeing to do this. It should be a great experience. We really appreciate the help. If you (or anyone) has additional questions, post here and I'll check and respond.

Thank you so much for your post - I really appreicate your suggestions. I know that our local house does require all meal prep to be done in their kitchen - which I totally agree with. I will be calling our local house tomorrow to make arrangements.

Tammy

 

[dthogue]

When we stayed at RMH, it meant a lot to us when the people who brought in meals also sat down and chatted with us. We were nine hours from home and stressed. The meals were absolutely wonderful to come back to, exhausted after appointments at the hospital; having someone to talk to (and get our minds off medical problems for a little while) was icing on the cake.

Thank you for sharing this - it is my hope that the girls will be able to stay and chat with the guests during dinner - I think it would be a great opportunity them.

Tammy

 

[dthogue]

Hi! I hope you do not mind me adding this to the list of suggestions. I am assuming since you are in central PA you are talking about the house at GMC. I have stayed there when my triplets were in the NICU and I now serve on a committee at GMC that meets at the house once a month. Before you decide on definates, check with the manager about restrictions on going into the house. I know GMC is restricting visitors because of H1n1 and the meetings the past two months, we were questioned at the door, no one with any illness is allowed in the Ronald House. They have to be extra careful because many people stay there who are visiting their sick children/ babies and many people with compromised immune systems. Also consider maybe making meals for the House of Care for cancer patients, it is across the street. Maybe you can prepare the meals ahead of time and drop them off?

chrissy

Chrissy,

I'm not sure what GMC stands for, but we are looking to donate to the house in Hershey, near the Penn State Medical Center.

Tammy

 

[chrissy92972]

I was referring to Geisinger.

 

[rmhc_employee]

The rules vary from one Ronald McDonald house to another. Many follow the rules mentioned above by the RMH employee. Others will accept food that's prepared ahead of time. I know my local RMH welcomes home baked items at any time, you don't even have to schedule it, and meals can be prepped at home and made in the house kitchen.

Hi - the rules I stated are promulgated by the head office and this is the "official" policy that is supposed to be followed 100%. I've been told that some programs don't want to alienate people and will accept these types of donations even though they dispose of the food. (Neither I, nor those programs, want to hurt any feelings.)

I didn't want to see any food wasted here (and, for the record, I don't agree with the accept and dispose philosophy). That's why my program states the rules clearly and upfront so everyone can understand. My experience has been that once people understand why we have these policies, they accept that fact easily. (It's pretty easy to put yourself on the other side of the argument.)

Also, for those of you who have stayed at RMH programs, if you visit rmhc.org, there is a spot to share your story (if you are interested) or read others. Some of the stories (with permission, of course) are used to help spread the word of what RMHC does everyday.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I vote the build your own tacos because if you don't eat meat, you can easily leave it out and use cheese and refried beans instead.

 

[Sammybeau's Mom]

The local middle school's honor society's officers (really their moms) took dinner in, served and cleaned up. The students helped, mostly with odd jobs and clean-up.

It was a catered meal from an excellent mexican restaurant. The salsa, cheese dip was great. Mexican stack or tacos? They fixed huge basket of items for the children. Books and fun things. We helped them but the experience was most valuable for our children.

 

[Priorityonecb]

Thank you for doing this! I'll add another vote for individual bags of pretzels, nuts, ect too if you are able. We had a two week hospital stay with our daughter. When you are up 24/7 with a sick and hurting child, you never know when you will need just a quick snack to get you through and the cafteria is closed. A bag of pretzels and a bottled water may sound insignificant, but I promise at 2am when you are stressed and starving...it's a treasure!

 

[Katy Belle]

Perhaps roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and fruit?

Roast chicken legs

Roast pork tenderloin



This is inspiring. I looked up the Ronald McDonald house near my parents town. When we visit the USA for Christmas I will donate some things from their wish list.

Thanks for all of the information!
Katy

 

[princess momma]

Hi - the rules I stated are promulgated by the head office and this is the "official" policy that is supposed to be followed 100%. I've been told that some programs don't want to alienate people and will accept these types of donations even though they dispose of the food. (Neither I, nor those programs, want to hurt any feelings.)

I didn't want to see any food wasted here (and, for the record, I don't agree with the accept and dispose philosophy). That's why my program states the rules clearly and upfront so everyone can understand. My experience has been that once people understand why we have these policies, they accept that fact easily. (It's pretty easy to put yourself on the other side of the argument.)

Also, for those of you who have stayed at RMH programs, if you visit rmhc.org, there is a spot to share your story (if you are interested) or read others. Some of the stories (with permission, of course) are used to help spread the word of what RMHC does everyday.

All RMH's are not following those policies. The one I volunteer at does not. They probably should, but they don't. I've seen people drop stuff off and they didn't throw it away. I don't know if the people are pre-screened or what but I'd be a little leery of eating anything from a random person. We always do all the prep work ahead of time and cook the meal at the house.


We made meatloaf, a potato casserole, veggies, dinner rolls, and brownies with vanilla ice cream last time we volunteered.