Group Volunteering Christchurch
Volunteer for our Family Dinner Programme and give families with a hospitalised child one less thing to worry about at the end of a long day at the hospital.
By volunteering to cook dinner, you and your team are not only giving families the chance to end the day with a nutritious, delicious, and freshly made meal – you're giving them the opportunity to sit down, refuel, and recharge during their toughest times. You don’t have to be a culinary expert—just bring your energy, enthusiasm, and ingredients, and have fun working together as a team!
If food isn't your team's thing, volunteer for a Working Bee and help maintain our clean, safe, and homely environment by assisting with event preparations, repairs, or maintenance - and much more! Suitable for groups of 4-6 people. There is no cost associated with this activity. To book and for more information email us: [email protected]
Family Dinner Programme
Our Calendar
By taking part in the Family Dinner Programme, your company, organisation or group will ensure that families can enjoy home-cooked, nutritious meals together at a time when they need them the most.
The House in Christchurch has full kitchen facilities, just like the ones you have at home, including five ovens and a barbecue so you won’t need to bring any cooking items with you.
Please note that all meals must be prepared onsite. Your group kindly supplies the ingredients for the meal, however we will let you know about a week before your selected date if we have an excess of any produce that you may wish to use.
On average, you would be catering for 40 to 60 people, including your team. As the numbers staying in the House changes very quickly, we recommend you give us a call the day before you take part in the programme to get a more accurate estimation of how many people you will be cooking for.
We suggest a maximum of six people cook the meal to enable the team to work easily within our kitchen facilities. It also ensures families aren’t overwhelmed.
If there are more than six of you who want to get involved, you can book out several nights in a row and have a cook-off.
This is your opportunity to rustle up all your culinary skills and create a two-course menu consisting of a main meal and a dessert. When selecting a menu try to choose simple meals that incorporate children’s tastes, while still being nutritious. You may wish to have a bit of fun and incorporate a theme e.g. dress up as Superheroes or a cuisine theme e.g. Mexican.
Please remember when planning your menu that RMHC® New Zealand has made an important change to improve the health and safety of the Family Dinner Programme. Any meat, dairy products, produce (fresh or frozen) or pre-prepared food will need to be ordered from your local grocer and delivered straight to the House. The RMHC staff will directly put the food into fridges and freezers to make sure it stays fresh. This is to ensure we are keeping our families safe and healthy. Thanks for your understanding.
It is preferable that you aim to have dinner served at 6pm.
After you have served the families we encourage you to sit down and enjoy the meal with them.
Some families will not be able to make dinner service and will request a meal be kept aside for them. These meals will be served and stored separately for the families.
Volunteers will be available throughout the night to help with dinner setup and making sure meals are set aside for families, as well as anything else you may need.
