Every month, Montini Catholic students are given the opportunity to prepare a home-cooked meal for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House near Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage House (CDH) in Winfield.  Since 1977, Ronald McDonald Charities have kept families together with their hospitalized children through their Ronald McDonald House® and Ronald McDonald Family Room® programs, enabling them to "get better together." All year long, the charity invites families, friends and groups to "get creative in the kitchen" to feed families of hospitalized children through their program called Meals from the Heart. Since families staying at a Ronald McDonald House are often far from the comforts of home, Montini Catholic volunteers have been happy to provide meals for them, allowing families to eat together without the stress of cooking or the expense of dining out.

"Each month we ask four to six students to sign up," explained Montini's Campus Minister, Mike Blanchette. "We are in charge of planning the meal and figuring out a game-plan for all participants to be involved. Our students and staff member leaders provide the ingredients to cook the meal on-site at the Ronald McDonald House kitchen."  Mr. Blancette and his teams have cooked everything from Sloppy Joes to meatloaf and mashed potatoes, to pretzel chicken with key lime pie for dessert. "It's really fun to put the meals together and the kids really seem to enjoy learning and cooking together," added Blanchette. "Sometimes we have a full house eating as soon as our meal is ready, and other times we're asked to pack the meal for families to grab as they arrive back at the house." 

Mr. Blanchette and his student teams are very happy to be able to provide a bit of comfort to those going through stressful times.