MU - Information Technology Student Organization

ITSO At The Ronald McDonald House

As Winston Churchill once so eloquently put, "We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give." During our time at Marquette and as members of ITSO, we generally tend to focus on how we are going to make that living, and it can become so consuming that giving back to the community can slip our minds.

With a heartfelt "Thank You" to PwC and Metavante, 15 members of ITSO were able to help our community on Saturday morning, November 8th. The Ronald McDonald House (RMDH) in Milwaukee is a sanctuary for terminally ill children and their families. It gives those members not staying in the hospital a warm, safe, and cost-free place to sleep while they are giving support to their ailing children. We could not think of a more heart-wrenching situation to be in, and we were fortunate enough to give a bit of reprieve to those children and families by making them a good old-fashioned, home-cooked meal that chilly Saturday.

Thanks to the generous support given to us by PwC and Metavante, ITSO organized three committees to help prepare this delightful meal; a shopping, cooking and preparing committee. For those who couldn't be physically there on Saturday, the shopping and cooking committees met Thursday and Friday night prior to buy the ingredients and then to cook them. I give credit to the students who gave up their Thursday and Friday nights only to spend it at Pick N' Save or slaving over a hot stove until the mashed potatoes were just fluffy enough. Saturday, a group of dedicated students rose from their beds to be leaving Marquette at 8:30AM! They tirelessly cooked and chopped for an hour and a half. After cooking, they stood by for two hours as they watched more than thirty people enjoy a warm meal of savory baked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, Mac and cheese with hot dog, green bean casserole, vegetables, crisp salad and hot rolls. Of course a small treat and dirt cake (complete with worms!) were served following their tasty meal.

After that they washed dishes and packed up complaint free, only to make it home just in time for the MU Basketball game! To watch children with IV's and parents full of despair be happy for just a moment as they tucked in for a meal was truly satisfying. One of the children wasn't happy with just one meal, but came back three times for just another roll or helping of dessert. Many of the parents would stop and thank us on their way out, but the most rewarding was an unprompted thank you as a little boy squealed with joy as he found the "worms" buried in the dirt cake. After getting home and promptly falling asleep (waking up at 6AM to start the baked ham can be very exhausting) I received a phone call from one of the associates at RMDH. She said that the group that was scheduled to make the evening dinner there had canceled, and the parents and children were thrilled when they were able to use our leftovers for another yummy meal.

When all was said and done, it dawned on me that we actually hadn't spent that many hours on this project, but the impact that we made that day at the Ronald McDonald House was unsurpassable. So now I think that the students of ITSO, while we are running around focusing on making a living, will be more appreciative and take more time out to focus on the life that we give to others.

- Stephanie Rau

Read more articles in ITSO..GOOD Vol. 2 No. 4

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