Volunteers are the Heart of the House
Looking for a fun way to help our families during the pandemic?
Donate Gift Cards
Donate gift cards of any increment to nearby restaurants and grocery stores to help feed and support families staying at the Nashville Ronald McDonald House! Our families also enjoy receiving gift cards to gas stations, Amazon, Walmart, Visa, etc.
Make A Mask
Due to COVID-19, masks have become a crucial donation to our House. We regularly provide families with masks for the safety of everyone staying with RMHC of Nashville. You can make your masks or donate store-bought masks! We ask that each mask be individually wrapped.
Sponsor A Meal
If you’d like to provide a meal for our families one night, please visit: https://rmhcnashville.com/taste-of-home/. To ensure the safety of our families, all meals must be individually boxed, 1 per guest. All meals must be prepared in a commercial kitchen, grocery store, deli or restaurant because of the medically fragile nature of our families.
Cleaning Buckets
Collect cleaning buckets for our families to use! Families are asked to maintain the cleanliness of their room during their stay at the Ronald McDonald House. We stock cleaning buckets through donations from volunteers like you! These buckets are stationed in each guest room for our families to utilize.
Get Creative with Kits
During COVID-19 we’ve loved to see the creativity of our volunteers. We have seen volunteers make a variety of kits that bring a smile to the families in our Houses. Groups have created Nail Night Kits, Spa Kits, Movie Kits, Child Activity Kits, Adult Activity Kits and more! Contact info@rmhcnashville.com for more information regarding creative kits. We’d love to hear your ideas!
Start a Fundraiser
Through the support of other families, staff and volunteers, we can make a difference for RMHC of Nashville families. And, now you can help too by creating your very own fundraiser by juggling, swimming or creating something totally new. You can do whatever you LOVE to do and raise funds #forRMHC.
So start your fundraiser, reach out to your personal network and use all your talents to help RMHC of Nashville give families the gift of laughter, love and time together.
Visit http://support.rmhc.org to start your own fundraiser!
In-House Volunteer Program Remains Suspended
Volunteers are the heart of the programs run by Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville. Caring and cheerful volunteers are often the first voices heard on the telephone and the first smiling faces seen at the door. Whether they are planning and coordinating an evening family activity, supplying and cooking a meal for the families, or committing to volunteer on a shift each week or month, our volunteers make our House and Family Room more like home.
Volunteer must be at least 18 years of age, responsible to volunteer as scheduled and must pass a background check.
Some duties volunteers handle:
- Greet and welcome families and visitors to the House and Family Room
- Register families into the House
- Answer phone calls
- Handle calls from hospital personnel, families and visitors
- Help keep the kitchen and public areas well organized and clean
- Assist volunteer groups with tours and meals
- Provide home cooked meals for our families
Host a “Wish List” Item Drive
Our House is just like yours, only multiplied by 36! Just like your home, ours needs a number of everyday household items to keep it running. We are always in need of household supplies, food items, and cleaning supplies. We have 36 families who stay with us every night so the need for these items continues throughout the year.
We have “Wish Lists” of items that are needed for both the House and the Family Room. If you are a member of a group or organization that is looking for a community service project, this is a great way to help those families who need the services provided by Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville. Please click to view the Ronald McDonald House Wish List and Family Room Wish List.
Amazon Orders can be delivered straight to RMHC of Nashville!
Click here to shop from our Amazon.com Wish List and have items shipped right to the House!
Prepare a Meal
***We are not currently allowing any volunteers or meal groups to enter the House***
Contact Chelsea at 615-343-4000 or chelsea@rmhcnashville.com if you are interested in preparing a meal in our newly renovated kitchens for our families! Please note: Due to the generous support from the community, our meal calendar fills up weeks/months in advance. We recommend contacting Chelsea ASAP to ensure a spot is available when your group is able to come.
See our Meal Program Guidelines
Raise Love
Through the support of other families, staff and volunteers, we can make a difference for RMHC of Nashville families. And, now you can help too by creating your very own fundraiser by juggling, swimming or creating something totally new. You can do whatever you LOVE to do and raise funds #forRMHC.
So start your fundraiser, reach out to your personal network and use all your talents to help RMHC of Nashville give families the gift of laughter, love and time together.
Visit http://support.rmhc.org to start your own fundraiser!
Be an S.O.S. or “Stock our Shelves” Sponsor
Collect pull-tabs
***Our volunteer program is temporarily suspended.***
**Due to the nature of the services we provide, we require all volunteers under age 18 be accompanied by an adult while in the House. We do want to promote volunteerism for teens and youth and have some projects available.
Prepare a meal for the families
Contact Chelsea at 615-343-4000 or Chelsea@rmhcnashville.com if you are interested in preparing a meal for our families in our newly renovated kitchens! Please note: Due to the generous support from the community, our meal calendar fills up weeks/months in advance. We recommend contacting Chelsea ASAP to ensure a spot is available when your group is able to come.
See our Meal Program Guidelines
Baked goods
If preparing a meal seems a little overwhelming, we are always excited to receive homemade baked goods such as cookies, brownies, or any type of tasty treat.
Cleaning projects
Our 36-bedroom House, complete with kitchens, laundry room, living rooms, library, dining room and common areas can always use extra cleaning on weekends. Groups can schedule to work for several hours helping with vacuuming, dusting, sanitizing toys.
Yard work (seasonal)
We often need help with raking leaves during the fall, picking up trash and weeding our flowerbeds in the spring and summer.
Collect items from our wish list
We are always very excited to receive household items that our families can use. Download the latest House Wish List and Family Room Wish List. Groups or individuals may establish a drop off point and/or set up a drive to encourage donations.
Collect pull-tabs
Individuals, schools, churches, clubs, and businesses can join in the effort in helping others. All you have to do is remove the little tab from any type of can. The aluminum in that little tab is more sanitary and worth more than the whole can. It takes approximately 900 tabs to make a pound, so start collecting today! Download a PDF file of our Pull-Tab program.
***Our volunteer program is temporarily suspended but you can still have meals sent to the House for families.***
Nothing says, ‘Welcome home’ like the smell of a home cooked meal. When families come back to their home-away-from-home after a long day in the hospital, a meal can be a special moment of relaxation and refreshment. Whether it’s the short break they allow themselves to eat or the opportunity to sit with family and catch up; when you prepare a meal you give a family more than food, you give them comfort.
Gather your family, co-workers, neighbors, or church group to come together and support Ronald McDonald House families with a delicious gift. We would love to have you join us!
With just 7 full-time staff members, the Nashville Ronald McDonald House could not provide dinner every night for all our families without the help of hundreds of caring volunteers…caring people like you! Please help us to continue providing a “home away from home” by either cooking a meal at the Nashville Ronald McDonald House in our fully stocked kitchen or preparing it in your own home and dropping it off. The Nashville Ronald McDonald House is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year and we invite the community to provide meals every day, including holidays. You or your group can plan breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Contact our House operations Coordinator, Chelsea, at 615-343-4000 or Chelsea@rmhcnashville.com if you are interested in preparing a meal for our families! Please note: Due to the generous support from the community, our meal calendar fills up weeks/months in advance. We recommend contacting Chelsea ASAP to ensure a spot is available when your group is able to come.
See our Meal Program Guidelines Here
Meals times:
- Breakfast (Monday-Friday): 8:30am
- Breakfast (Saturday & Sunday): 9:00am
- Lunch (Daily): 12:00pm
- Dinner (Nightly): 6:00pm
If you would like us to store your meal in the fridge until it is served, you may drop if off anytime after 8am on the day you are scheduled to provide a meal.
Sponsor A Meal
You may donate in lieu of having the meal catered/preparing it yourself and we will take care of ordering something our families will love. Contact our House Operations Coordinator, Chelsea, at Chelsea@rmhcnashville.com 2-3 weeks ahead of your meal to coordinate this option.
Have Your Meal Catered
You may always have your meal catered and delivered to the house.
*Please keep in mind that mealtimes are sometimes the only times our families can keep their minds off what is happening at the hospital. Some families may wish to talk about their situation, but most families prefer to eat quickly and return to the hospital.
*Please do not photograph families (parents or children) staying at RMHC of Nashville or post photographs including RMHC of Nashville families on social media. We appreciate your understanding.
You may also fill out an online form if you are interested in preparing a meal for our families.
***Our volunteer program is temporarily suspended.***
Responsibilities may include:
- Answering phones and providing front desk reception
- Welcoming, registering & orienting new guests
- Conducting house tours
- Performing housekeeping tasks
- Assisting with office projects
- Helping with fundraising events
If this sounds like a match for you, please click here to complete a volunteer application.
***The Ronald McDonald Family Room is temporarily closed.***
The Ronald McDonald Family Room, located on the fifth floor of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, was designed to be an oasis, a place where families whose children are being treated at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt can get away for a moment to gather their thoughts, rest and relax, have something to eat or drink, or just take a few minutes to walk away from the bedside of their sick children. The Family Room is a place of refuge for more than 2,100 people every month. Family Room Volunteers help to extend the mission of our House by providing warmth and support to the families who need us.
The commitment made in accepting a volunteer position in the Ronald McDonald Family Room is an important one. Family Room Volunteers provide reception for families, offer hospitality, and provide a supportive shoulder for families who have a child being treated in Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
- We encourage Family Room Volunteers to be prompt for their shift.
- Volunteers answer the Family Room telephone
- Volunteers register all guests visiting the Family Room.
- Volunteers enforce rules when needed
- Volunteers monitor television use if necessary (volume and content)
- Volunteers keep the children’s area and kitchen straightened
- Volunteers help provide a warm, friendly and supportive atmosphere for families
- Volunteers must NOT bring children, friends, relatives or other visitors with them while they are doing a volunteer shift in the Family Room at the hospital.
- Family Room Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age.
- Family Room Volunteers are trained only to be volunteers within the Ronald McDonald Family Room.
- We discourage medical consultation between patient’s families and doctors within the Family Room. There are many other places for meetings in the hospital between doctors and family members.
- Volunteers will be asked to sign a Confidentiality Agreement with the hospital and a background check is also required.
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Volunteer Requirements
Required Immunizations are:
(MMR)Measles Mumps Rubella or Rubella Titer (if born prior to 1957)
All volunteers must wear a Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt/Ronald McDonald Family Room Volunteer Photo ID at all times while in the hospital. When a volunteer becomes inactive, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Photo ID must be returned to the Ronald McDonald House. Replacement Photo IDs will be at the volunteers’ expense. The cost for a replacement ID is $15.00 (cash or check)
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Ronald McDonald Family Room Volunteer!
Click here for a Family Room Volunteer Application.
Please contact Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville at (615) 343-4000 with any questions.