LEHI, Utah — The Ronald McDonald Family Room at Lehi's Primary Children's Hospital is in need of volunteers.
The Family Room at the hospital prepares and serves meals, free of charge, to families whose children are receiving medical care.
According to Ronald McDonald House Charities CEO Carrie Romano, the meals prepared with the Adopt-A-Meal program help feed families who may stay with their children at the hospital.
"We know that having mom and dad nearby and having the needs of mom and dad met improves the outcomes for kids,” said Romano. “So mom and dad can participate in daily family rounds with their medical team and can actively support the healing of their child because they can focus on that.”
"There’s so much that’s out of your control when you’re in the hospital, there’s so many unknowns, that to have something that was a standard that I knew I could rely on was really amazing,” said Ashley Parks.
When Parks lost her son to childhood cancer in 2020, she was in and out of Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City and relied on the facility's Family Room.
Now, she works at the location in Lehi to help other families in need.
"It would be so truly amazing if we could say, yes, we have lunch every day at 1 p.m., we have dinner every day at 6 p.m. Right now, we're getting about half of that if we are lucky,” added Parks.
That’s where Adopt-A-Meal volunteers like Natalie McKinney and Tandie Watterson come in, and said this gives them purpose.
"A bit of relief and enough good food that can power those moms through the rest of the day, while they focus all their energy on taking care of their babies,” said Watterson.
The two started making meals in 2013 at the Salt Lake City location, and now serve lunch at Lehi once a month.
They bring friends and family to help.
"It’s not hard. It’s fun and rewarding and it doesn’t have to be elaborate, it can be which we like to do, but you can keep it low key on a small scale and feed a few people and feel good for them and yourself,” said McKinney.
All the volunteers are spreading the word to encourage more people to volunteer.
"It doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to be complete," explained Parks. "It can be something as simple as grilled cheese and tomato soup and like a side salad,.
The Family Room gets church groups, service project teams, families and others to help cook meals. Kids are allowed to help, too.
"We've had people donate money, items, all around our neighborhoods to help us,” said McKinney.
Cory Thompson visited the family room when his son was hospitalized.
"To have a space where you can come, get something to eat, without having to leave the hospital, leave your child, like my child is still in his room, it’s hard to describe how valuable that is improving the care we are getting,” he said. “Because of this experience, I would like to bring my family back and volunteer as well."
"It’s just a tiny bright spot on a long hard day, and we just need the help of the community to provide that, and its actually really easy to do,” said Parks.
If you want to volunteer and get involved, you can learn more and sign up here.
