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The Cobalt New Zealand team spent an evening last week working with the Ronald McDonald house in Auckland to cook dinner for the 120 family members that are staying in the Domain House residence while their child is unwell in hospital.
The Ronald McDonald House provides accommodation and support for these families, who may be from out of town, and some of whom require urgent accommodation when their child arrives in hospital. Each year they provide free accommodation and support to over 3,700 families, reducing and relieving some of the everyday stresses they face like paying for a place close to the hospital to stay, organising meals for their family and emotional support on a tough day.
We put together a menu to cook for the house and got to work mid-afternoon, ready to serve for the families at 6pm. It was a mad rush, but a great way to spend the afternoon with the team.
Sam Calvert, Senior Recruitment Consultant from Cobalt says of the experience:
“For the last two years Cobalt has taken in an interest in supporting the Ronald McDonald House. Each Easter the team comes together to create an epic hamper of goodies for them to enjoy over the Easter period. This year we decided to also volunteer our time to cook dinner for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. It is hard to explain this experience but a few words that come to mind would be - A moving experience, eye opening to struggles that families are going through and the gift of kindness really goes a long way.
From the moment we entered the building we were greeted with the kindness and generosity that the workers and volunteers were filled with. We spent a few hours preparing the dinner and dessert for the families with recipes from scratch. 6pm and it was all go! The families started lining up and what a great feeling it was to see their eyes light up with joy to see the range of goodies they were about to tuck into. Throughout the night we heard very touching stories and met some very brave people. They were all very grateful and took the time to thank us for volunteering. The families enjoyed our vege dishes as they said during the week they don't have the brain space to even think about filling their bodies with the right nutrients - They were very grateful! We were even treated to a quick tour of the facilities and accommodation. What a beautiful space for families that are going through a tough time. Looking forward to the next time we volunteer"
It was as great way to work as a team helping out the community. To get your company involved check out the Ronald McDonald Volunteering site.
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