Author: mreakus

Ronald McDonald House

Dinner & Activity 3-22/25

Last night we had the honor of serving the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Camden, NJ. King of Pizza of Cherry Hill graciously donated 12 pizza making kits with all the fixings and 2 huge delicious salads for us to make for dinner. This meal is definitely a house favorite! We are so grateful for our volunteers that are pizza making experts!

After dinner we hosted a cookie decorating activity. We made over 75 cookies in all kinds of shapes with 5 different colored icings to use for decorating. Our very own Abby the baker really hooked us up! Not only were the cookies delicious but after the kids got done with them – they looked amazing!

To finish off the night we were able to present them with the 25 fully packed Welcome Baskets- one for every room in the house.

We owe so many thanks to our volunteers that helped collect items, donate coffee gift cards, pack the baskets, make the dinner, host the activity and of course King of Pizza for the food!

It was bitter sweet to see some familiar faces last night but we know that God is in control and He holds these little children in His hands. Please continue to pray for these families as their journey is long and anything but easy.

Shine on!

Coffee’s On Me

February 2025

Our kick off event this year really blew me away! Last year we did Coffee’s On Me and collected 64 Starbucks gift cards to be placed in the Welcome Baskets for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Camden, NJ. This year, we collected 86 Starbucks gift cards and had volunteers donate towards the Welcome Baskets and were able to make 25 complete baskets – one for every single room in the Ronald McDonald House! Each basket includes a journal, activity book and pencils for kids, bubbles, candy, lotion, sanitizer spray, and THREE Starbucks gift cards that can be used at the hospital. That is over $700 worth of goodies to be donated. I cannot believe it! The generosity of our volunteers for complete strangers is such a blessing and encouragement. The Lord is so good. 

CK & RMH – Feb/March 2024

COFFEE ON ME

Another job well done 👏🏼 The “Coffee On Me” drive brought in 54 $5 Starbucks gift cards! Our volunteers are seriously the best! On top of that we had one volunteer donate money towards putting together Welcome Baskets for the Ronald McDonald House in Camden, NJ so we were able to put together a basket for every room. Each basket contained a notebook, pen, inspirational note pad, crayons or markers, chips, Kit Kats, Swedish fish, 2 water bottles, bubbles, lotion, toothbrushes, floss & toothpaste along with 2 of the Starbucks gift cards. 

PLACEMATS FOR CK

We also had the first and second graders at Trinity Prep school decorate placemats to be used at the dinner service for Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, NJ. They did such a great job!

Updates!

This year has been a bit of a blur for the Reakus family as we’ve had a lot of changes happening! We found out we are expecting our third child & sold our house! Please forgive me for the lack of updates since my last post but here is a snapshot of the rest of 2023!

Get Your Kicks 3/19/22

This past Saturday we had the pleasure of teaming up with Seeds of Hope in Camden, NJ to serve the less fortunate a hot breakfast and finish handing out the rest of the shoes that were donated by Carl’s Shoes. As always, it was such a blessing to us to be a part of such an awesome mission. The gentleman that was in charge this week said a quick prayer for the day and reminded all of us that we are/were only one decision away from being in their shoes. Any one of us could have ended up in that life. Thanks be to God that we aren’t.

Also, to all of our men volunteers out there- they are always looking for mens clothing, shoes, socks, underwear. Before you trash or donate your old stuff keep us in mind!

Shine on!