Keys House Cook at Ronald McDonald House

At 4.30pm on Thursday, 8 May, "and the time starts now", it felt like we were in a My Kitchen Rules programme. We had two hours to prepare a meal for 45 people and we were going to have to work fast to get it done. Mrs Bunney, Mrs Freitag and 5 Year 11 boys, Austin Gear, Coen Lewis, Harrison Gardiner, Sam Martin and Florent Mortier had volunteered to cook at Ronald McDonald House, we were nervous. We had decided on a pretty healthy menu:

Stirfry vegetables and chicken in soy sauce

Fried rice

Garlic bread

Green salad with tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum and carrot

Apple pie and ice cream

We used every moment we had, to slice, chop, stir and dish up the food. We started serving and were asked for 5 late dinners, it sounded just like the boarding house, only WE were doing the cooking. We put some bright coloured serviettes in glasses and offered some Cadburys treats at the end of the meal. Once everyone had been served the workers joined the dining room for a well earned meal ourselves and some chat over dinner. Then there was the washing up! Thanks goodness for dishwashers, but there still seemed endless pots and pans. Four hours after we started the kitchen was clean and tidy and we were exhausted. We were shown round McDonald House, and told about who lived there, and how parents and children can stay as long as they need to, whilst the children were in and around hospital needing care. It was a fantastic opportunity for our boys to give of their time and prepare some really good food for others in need. The cost of the food was provided by money made at a recent Boarders Fun night. This social activity was attended by over 250 Year 7 and 8 boarders from other schools in Perth. Will we go again? Yes, we have booked in another evening later in the term. It will certainly be easier the second time around. Thanks to Mrs Bunney for managing to get us a booking (it is really hard to get into) and doing all the shopping. Thanks to Catering for their apple pie it was delicious. Thanks to the boys involved, I enjoyed the energy, the chat and the hard work that you all put in. Well done.

Mrs M Freitag, Head of Boarding