CINCINNATI — When Jill Ruschulte first started cooking in the Ronald McDonald House kitchen, she knew she'd be preparing meals for hundreds of families. Now, nearly three years later, she's serving plates of comfort that help to take some stress off those same families' plates.
At the charity's Cincinnati location, Ruschulte and other chefs guide volunteers in preparing, cooking and serving meals through the Taste of Hope meal program.
"We provide two meals a day for the families," she said. "Monday through Friday we do lunch and dinner and then Saturday and Sunday we do brunch and dinner and we are constantly changing our menu so there is good variety for the families."
Those meals come at no cost to the families, thousands of whom stay at the House every year while their critically ill children undergo treatment at Children's Hospital.
Oftentimes, families are exhausted, scared and financially drained as they struggle to pay overwhelming medical bills. Not having to worry about cooking a meal at the end of the day is a significant weight off their shoulders, RMHC's Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Kristen Klein said.
Cincinnati's House can care for 177 guest families every night. It also provides activities, play areas and laundry facilities, among other resources.
"We are at capacity every night of the year right now," Klein said. "We have seen an incredible uptick in demand."
That uptick is only expected to rise as the summer months continue because the House opens up to more family members, including siblings and grandparents.
Klein estimates an additional 50 to 60 people a day are being fed through the food program. The numbers will likely grow as families on the wait list will be invited to dine and use the House during the day.
Despite the increased demand, finding enough volunteers to meet it is a challenge during the summer months, Klein said.
"Because people's priorities shift with vacations and things like that it's harder to get groups together," she said. "But we're busier than ever so having the groups come in here, whether it's to help prepare a meal or it's to help prepare snacks for the families — it's all really helpful. Donating snacks of any kind, just boxes of your child's favorite granola bars or things like that. That'll go a long way of easing the stress and lifting the burden of our family members."
The House employs roughly 30 staff members. Ideally, Klein said around 160 volunteers would help fill the remaining roles.
Most of those helping hands would be in the Taste of Hope program.
"About six to eight people (per day would be the goal) but we can take anywhere from four to 10 people to help prepare a meal for our guest families. To come and help prepare a snack? Just two people is fine," Klein said.
If volunteering isn't a possibility, donations are always welcome at the House. Klein said monetary or gift contributions can be made online.
"The sous chefs here, we can't do our jobs here without the volunteers coming into help us. The fact that we do have them coming in means that we can make a bigger meal, a nicer meal for the families," Ruschulte said. "Anybody can cook. That's why the chefs are here. We are your guides. ... We tell you how to prep the stuff, how to cook the stuff and you get to serve the families. Anybody that hasn't been here will be blown away by the impact that they make."
If the House is unable to fill the number of volunteer spots it needs, Klein said they're still committed to feeding families two cooked meals a day, though they might be simpler than other plates. Families might also have limited access to snacks, or even go without them.
"(For these families) to just come and sit down, catch their breath and just have a meal together is the best gift," said Klein. "I can't tell you the number of families who come here thinking their child is the only one in the world with a certain condition and then they meet a child right across the table that has the same thing — that's an incredible gift for you to understand that you're not going through this journey alone and those conversations and realizations happen all the time over meals at this house."
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