Last night the Ray White New Zealand Corporate cooked dinner for the families staying at Ronald McDonald House, Auckland. Ray White have been partners of Ronald McDonald House since 2007 and regularly support the charity – from collecting for the recent RMH National Street Appeal, to providing monetary support through their office and salesperson partnership programs, through to volunteering initiatives such as this.
This year LoanMarket New Zealand also assisted the Ray White Corporate team who served up roast turkeys and lamb with seasonal vegetables followed by a pavlova desert in mid-winter Christmas style. William Laben, Business Development Executive from LoanMarket New Zealand commented that “it’s a great opportunity to give back, and its always a great evening. Being able to prepare a meal – something which appears to us to be such a small thing to us – is always so well received, and very much appreciated by the families who stay there.”
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. New Zealand’s Ronald McDonald Houses keep families together – because families are stronger when they are together.
The Ronald McDonald House in Auckland, situated alongside the Starship Hospital, first opened its doors in 1994 with a humble 10 rooms. Today the House can provide care for 80 families each night. 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. Claire Cooper, Ronald McDonald House Auckland’s General Manager of Fundraising and Marketing comments “We never turn a family away and in May alone we had to accommodate 12 families in a local hotel because our facilities were full. Getting Grafton Mews completed is our big goal!”
Evening such as the cook for the families night are always a collective effort, and this year was no exception with the Ray White Corporate team enlisting the support of friends, family and business partners to make the evening a success – with fresh local produce provided by friends at Croziers Turkeys, Te Akatea Farm, Freedom Farms, AS Wilcox & Sons, Snap Fresh Foods, Chevalier Wholesale Produce, Dessert Deli, Warkworth’s Lothlorien Organic Winery and many more.
Carey Smith, CEO of Ray White New Zealand says he is “extremely proud of the the support Ray White Offices and Members continue to show of Ronald McDonald Houses across New Zealand… and we remain proud supporters of these, the most valuable houses in New Zealand”