UCF Med Students Volunteer to Help Sick Kids, Families in Community

By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Nov. 5, 2009

Twenty medical students from the University of Central Florida College of Medicine will cook and serve meals to families of ill children Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Ronald McDonald House on the campus of Arnold Palmer Medical Center.

It will be the first official community service event for the 41-member charter class, which began classes in August.  The group is eager to help the community, which provided them with full scholarships for their four years of medical school, said student Katherine Ferstadt.  

 “We wanted to start off with something small and manageable, but meaningful too,” Ferstadt said. “We plan to volunteer on many more occasions. This is just the beginning.”

 Ferstadt is a member of the newly formed UCF chapter of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), which organized the volunteer project.

The group decided to serve homemade meals at one of the two Ronald McDonald d House locations in Orlando because it keeps students focused on the reason why medicine is so important – helping those who need it most.  The event will help the residents of the Ronald McDonald House and provide a valuable learning experience for the students.

 “Our professors are doing a great job teaching us what happens in the hospital.  What happens to the children and parents when they go home?  We are helping in the community but we are also becoming better doctors,” said Will Kang said, also an AMSA member.

The UCF students will make chicken, mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese and green bean casserole and then serve the meals to the families staying at the House.

Ronald McDonald House provides a “home-away-from-home” that offers comfort and care to families with children receiving treatment at local hospitals and medical facilities in Orlando.

More than 13,000 families have stayed at the two Ronald McDonald House locations in Orlando since the first phase of the first house opened in December 1996. Those families have represented 46 countries, 47 states and 61 Florida counties. Many families are from Brevard, Volusia, Lake, Orange, Polk, Highlands, Osceola, and Seminole counties. More than 200 volunteers provide the backbone of the houses, according to organizers.

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