Family dinners
“I particularly enjoyed the Ronald McDonald House experience because of the interaction with patients and families. They were extremely grateful and I found that to be a very rewarding experience.” — Kevin Farmer, Director, Community Relations & Charitable Services Group, Goldman Sachs JBWere.
Weekly family dinners cooked by our wonderful volunteers provide a great deal of relief for many parents who have spent emotionally exhausting days with a sick child in hospital. Without our volunteer cooks, this relief would not be possible.
Anyone can cook!
Our current volunteer cooking groups vary greatly. Some are groups of close friends who have been volunteering for many years while others are corporate groups and businesses that find cooking at Ronald McDonald House Auckland a perfect team building exercise and a great way to give something back to the community. We can help you get established with menu suggestions and recipes if need be. Barbeques are a firm favourite of many groups and our families in the warmer months.
Frequency
Some groups choose to do one-off dinners while others may cook up to 10 evenings per year.
How to get involved
New groups are always welcome! To find out more and register your interest in volunteering your time to cook for the families of Ronald McDonald House Auckland, please call us on +64 9 303 1365 or email .
The Family Dinner programme is generously supported by Tegel Foods and the Mad Butcher Pt Chevalier, who supply all the meat and chicken for our volunteers to cook each week.
The RMH Auckland Trust funds and governs Ronald McDonald House Auckland (48 rooms), the Ronald McDonald House Family Room (13 short stay critical care rooms) in Starship Hospital and RMHA St Martins (16 offsite apartments). It is a registered community charitable trust comprised of the following partners: Auckland District Health Board, Child Cancer Foundation, Heart Children, The Rotary Club of Downtown Auckland, Ronald McDonald House Charities and 2 community representatives. The House, Family Room and St Martins provide a ‘home away from home’ for over 3,000 families of children with life-threatening illnesses each year. The Trust through its staff and partnerships actively fundraises throughout New Zealand to achieve the $3,000,000 p.a. it needs to run the facilities and support its families. Charity Registration number: CC23591