KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the first time in roughly 16 months, volunteers cooked dinner Thursday night in the kitchen of a Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City, Missouri.
The agency, which houses, at no cost, families of children admitted to nearby Children’s Mercy Hospital, isolated its clients when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in reference to COVID-19.
Since March 2020, sponsors and donors have helped pay for restaurants to drop off or cater individually portioned meals for families staying with the agency.
As cities and organizations lift restrictions previously in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City has decided to allow a limited number of volunteers back into its buildings to prepare home-cooked meals twice a week. Thursday, volunteers from Serve KC cooked pasta with meatballs and broccoli.
“There’s just something about a home-cooked meal, the love that goes into it, when volunteers are working together filling the space with laughter, and joy, and love and deliciousness,” said Tami Greenberg, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City’s CEO.
She said normally 17,000 volunteers pass through the doors of Ronald McDonald Houses in Kansas City every year to prepare meals, so it has been a tall task to keep families fed.
For volunteers interested in cooking for the charity, or donating toward the restaurant meals, Ronald McDonald House has put information on its website about how to get involved.
