Last week the Ray White New Zealand Corporate team once again cooked dinner for the families at Ronald McDonald House, Auckland.
Ray White have a long-standing commitment to Ronald McDonald House (RMH) who provide a home away from home for families from all over New Zealand when their children require specialist medical treatment in another city.
Ronald McDonald House has three locations across New Zealand: Auckland; Wellington and Christchurch. Their primary purpose is to support families on their time of need by providing practical and emotional support – as, when a family faces the weight of a child’s illness, the best thing they can do is face it together.
From humble beginnings 20 years ago, opening with just 10 bedrooms, Ronald McDonald House in Auckland now take care of 80 Kiwi families each night; and over the last 20 years have served more than 15,000 families from right across the country. The demand placed on the House means they have been working too on expanding their facilities, and they now have finalised plans for a further 22 rooms for the second wing of Grafton Mews which they hope will commence in 2015. New Zealand’s Ronald McDonald House’s primary aim is to keep families together – because, as they say, “families are stronger together”.
Since 2007 Ray White New Zealand Offices have been involved by partnering with RMH to help keep families together. While Ray White regularly cook for the families staying at the house, this year Ray White have also stepped up their support of the charity by launching salesperson support partnership initiatives in addition to the long established office partnership opportunities promoted to members. “This year we took it upon ourselves to actively promote the Ronald McDonald Street Appeal to our members, and the broader community, with really positive results. We also look forward to launching our Ray White Little Ray of Giving campaign this Christmas season which will see all offices come together again to support those families who may need a little extra cheer this festive season” says Carey Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Ray White New Zealand.
Evening such as the cook for the families night are always a group effort, and this year was no exception with the Ray White Corporate team enlisting the support of business partner, LoanMarket New Zealand, to make the evening a success. Following on from the mid-winter Christmas dinner the team cooked earlier in the year traditional Kiwi Burgers were served to the families at last weeks family dinner.
“This is a collective effort, and our service delivery to families in need would simply not be possible without supporters like Ray White!” says Dominique Cornille, Business Relationship Manager for Ronald McDonald House.