Skip to main content

Last night, a few members of the IZEA team had the privilege of preparing, serving and sharing a meal at one of the Orlando Ronald McDonald House locations.

Families of critically ill children turn to the Ronald McDonald Houses when their children are hospitalized or receiving treatment at area medical facilities.  Their mission is to provide a “home-away-from-home” for these families in medical crisis.

The houses themselves are warm and comfortable with plenty of bedrooms, lounge areas, a large playroom, computer lab, laundry facilities and a community kitchen that invites local groups in at meal times with their TakeThemAMeal program. Last night was the second time IZEA has been a part of this wonderful service.

If you know anything about IZEAns, you know that we LOVE to eat! For this meal, the team went all out making several amazing dishes including Ted’s “Chicken Taco Awesomeness,” Brian’s “Corn Stuff,” Stephanie’s Shepherd’s Pie, enchiladas, lasagna AND stuffed shells, as well as salad, rolls, rice, desserts and even breakfast items for the next day!

The residents seemed to enjoy the spread coming back for seconds, and sometimes thirds.

During dinner, we got to speak with some of the people staying at the house and hear their stories.  One woman had just arrived early that morning with her husband and two small sons for her daughter’s kidney transplant.  Another woman shared that she would be at the house for at least another month while her baby girl, born at 28 weeks, was getting strong enough to go home.

Both the staff and the families living in the home thanked us effusively for our efforts, but as we told them, when we visit the Ronald McDonald House, what we receive is so much more than what we give.