92redragtop
08-01-2019, 12:08 AM
I had not heard of this program until earlier this year but we put together a team of about 16 people at work and participated back in June. Once you choose a menu, you order food from Longos online which is delivered directly to RMHC Toronto, your team arrives at 3pm for a quick tour, then you have until 6pm to prep, cook, setup the food when the families start lining up for dinner (even kids with medical equipment attached to them :(). I think we've had about 4 or 5 other teams from our company participate in the weeks since then. If you're looking for an event for your team to participate in, this is worth considering.
It was a lot of fun and a great team exercise to put the meals together (we chose baked salmon and BBQ chicken menu options), and then serve dinner to the families and kids staying at Ronald McDonald's House in Toronto. Once everyone got their dinner we joined them for the meal at their tables....I think we served about 60 families on our dinner shift. I sat with a family from the East Coast (mom, mother-in-law, baby - dad and toddler were at Sick Kids Hospital) - scary situation for them. On vacation in Florida and toddler (little girl) started having seizures, they couldn't figure out the cause (possible virus affecting brain), flew her up to Sick Kids in Toronto for treatment/further diagnosis - 2 weeks later they still had no solid diagnosis or prognosis, no idea how long they were going to be in Toronto. They had no family in Ontario either so were staying at Ronald McDonald House. The mom was pretty quiet/sad but her MIL filled me in while the mom went up for dessert for the baby. I offered help if they needed transportation or assistance while in Toronto but did not hear from them afterwards so I hope all was ok with the little girl eventually. I'm not a parent (except to a fur kid) but that must be scary.
https://www.rmhctoronto.ca/How-to-Help/Other-Ways-to-Help/Donate-Goods-and-Services/Meals-for-Families
Home for Dinner
Our Home for Dinner program is a great way for you to ease the financial stress and the burden of food preparation facing families when they return from the hospital in the evening.
The Home for Dinner program runs four nights per week (generally Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) and typically requires 15 to 20 volunteers as groups serve approximately 150 people.
Your group is responsible for the cost of groceries as well as the preparation, serving and clean up after the meal. The cost of the groceries is usually about $1,200, with a small additional charge from the delivery service (we use Grocery Gateway). We encourage your group to sit down and share the meal with our families once they have been served.
Once a date is booked with you, we are happy to provide menu ideas and grocery lists.
It was a lot of fun and a great team exercise to put the meals together (we chose baked salmon and BBQ chicken menu options), and then serve dinner to the families and kids staying at Ronald McDonald's House in Toronto. Once everyone got their dinner we joined them for the meal at their tables....I think we served about 60 families on our dinner shift. I sat with a family from the East Coast (mom, mother-in-law, baby - dad and toddler were at Sick Kids Hospital) - scary situation for them. On vacation in Florida and toddler (little girl) started having seizures, they couldn't figure out the cause (possible virus affecting brain), flew her up to Sick Kids in Toronto for treatment/further diagnosis - 2 weeks later they still had no solid diagnosis or prognosis, no idea how long they were going to be in Toronto. They had no family in Ontario either so were staying at Ronald McDonald House. The mom was pretty quiet/sad but her MIL filled me in while the mom went up for dessert for the baby. I offered help if they needed transportation or assistance while in Toronto but did not hear from them afterwards so I hope all was ok with the little girl eventually. I'm not a parent (except to a fur kid) but that must be scary.
https://www.rmhctoronto.ca/How-to-Help/Other-Ways-to-Help/Donate-Goods-and-Services/Meals-for-Families
Home for Dinner
Our Home for Dinner program is a great way for you to ease the financial stress and the burden of food preparation facing families when they return from the hospital in the evening.
The Home for Dinner program runs four nights per week (generally Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) and typically requires 15 to 20 volunteers as groups serve approximately 150 people.
Your group is responsible for the cost of groceries as well as the preparation, serving and clean up after the meal. The cost of the groceries is usually about $1,200, with a small additional charge from the delivery service (we use Grocery Gateway). We encourage your group to sit down and share the meal with our families once they have been served.
Once a date is booked with you, we are happy to provide menu ideas and grocery lists.