Providing a meal for the families that stay at the Ronald McDonald House takes away the worry and hassle of food preparation so that the families can give all their energy and attention to their hospitalized child. Our families always cite the donation of meals as a major help.

Using our kitchen facilities, a group can bring groceries and prepare a meal at the House. We encourage our volunteers to prepare the meal in our kitchen to enhance our “home-away-from-home” atmosphere. If a group is unable to prepare a meal here, they may choose to have something delivered from a restaurant or catering service.

Please note that we are unable to accept meals that have been prepared in a private home.

To stay in compliance with the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, we can only accept meals that have been prepared/assembled in a commercial kitchen. The kitchen at our House is a commercial kitchen and we strongly recommend that groups use it to prepare the meals.

This is a volunteer activity that is great for groups of 5 to 10 people, which is how many our kitchen comfortably holds. Service organizations, church groups, corporate teams, college organizations….all types of groups have provided meals for our families.

If you want to participate in providing a meal, please complete our volunteer application. Because this activity is so popular, dates for providing lunch and dinner are typically requested well in advance. Please see our Meal Provider Tips for the answers to some of the more frequently asked questions about this program. If you have any further questions, please contact us to ask.