by Calvin Smith
Last week, Aragon Research shut down our headquarters in Morgan Hill for the afternoon and took a drive up the 101 North. On this particular day, Aragon team members dedicated our afternoon and evening towards preparing, cooking, and serving meals for residents at the Ronald McDonald House Stanford in Palo Alto, CA.
As part of Aragon’s continual efforts to give back to our community, this month we served residents who are currently living at the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford.
This blog will recap Aragon’s evening at the Ronald McDonald House and why it’s important to Aragon to support our surrounding communities.
What Is the Ronald McDonald House?
The Ronald McDonald House Charity first opened in October of 1974 after a partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles. After 40 years of operation, the charity has expanded to form new and independent branches in over 50 regions and countries.
Originally opened in 1979, the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford completed an expansion project to welcome 123 families of sick children being cared for at surrounding hospitals every night. This expansion project was an effort to reduce the large waitlist that was accruing—and as a result, this became the largest facility in the Ronald McDonald House system of 365 Houses.
With this expansion, Ronald McDonald House Charity continues to strive towards their mission to “create communities where children and their families embrace life and healing with a sense of hope, courage, and joy.”
Members of Aragon Research spent the late afternoon preparing, cooking, and serving meals at the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford.
Prepping, Cooking, and Serving Hot Meals
We arrived at the Ronald McDonald House campus in the late afternoon and were immediately given a personal tour of the House. After seeing much of the facility and learning how the organization contributes to the well being of both children and their families, it was time to start cooking!
On this particular night, we served a hot meal featuring oven-roasted chicken, seasoned potatoes, broccoli, a side salad, and the resident favorite: chocolate and vanilla flavored cupcakes.
All of us were assigned to a variety of prepping stations in order to get this meal ready for the residents. Before I go any further, it must be noted that our fearless leader and CEO Jim Lundy was designated as the onion chopper. He handled the onions with great courage and care. I for one would not have lasted at this particular station.
Once the meal was prepared and cooked, we served the residents in a buffet style. One by one, each resident came through the line and was served a nice hot meal. All of the residents were very appreciative and thanked us for our time and effort in making this meal.
Bottom Line
Aragon would like to thank the entire staff at the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. The amount of time and effort each staff member contributes towards making the residents feel at home is extraordinary.
It’s important to the Aragon family that we continue to give back and serve our surrounding communities as much as possible. We live in a region that has a variety of wonderful charities and organizations that work towards bettering the region. Hopefully, our efforts allowed the residents at the Ronald McDonald House to find some comfort in the form of a hot meal.
Stay tuned as we will soon be publishing our ‘Aragon Cares’ page, which will show Aragon’s impact in the surrounding communities each month.