YouthCity in the Salt Lake Tribune

I've inserted a clip that appeared in the Close-Up Section of the Salt Lake Tribune yesterday, both in the paper and online at http://www.sltrib.com/slc/ci_11934936 .
I can't say enough about Liz (Liberty Park YouthCity director), but the service spoken of in this article is a good representation of her character.

More than McNuggets
Ronald McDonald House » YouthCity cooks dinner once a month for guests.
By Katie Drake
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:03/18/2009 01:18:58 PM MDT


Olivia Anderson is delighted to help prepare dinner for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. (Courtesy of YouthCity)

Even at Ronald McDonald house, fast food can get tiring.
But guests are getting more than those famous fries and burgers at the Salt Lake City Ronald McDonald house thanks to YouthCity.
The youths, ages 9 to 14, have adopted the home as their service project for the year, and make dinner for guests one Friday each month.
YouthCity provides life-skills training after school, but wanted to add a strong service component this year, said Elizabeth Robinson Rich, program coordinator at YouthCity Liberty Park .
The Ronald McDonald House was nearby and provided the perfect opportunity to blend the youth's cooking class with a deserving, and hungry, crowd.
Cooking classes run all week, but one Friday each month the kids head over to the house to cook spaghetti, tacos or chili in the industrial-sized kitchen. The youth have to sign up to participate in the field trip, and Rich said it has been full every month.
"The kids are beginning to see a greater purpose to the skills they're learning," Rich said. "It's a nice outcome of the opportunity to serve."
The Ronald McDonald House tries to provide homemade dinners every night, said Liza Springmeyer, the facility's volunteer coordinator. She said having groups like YouthCity commit to coming every month helps immensely, because the schedule is filled far in advance.
Though many guests are still at the hospital with their children when dinner is served, Springmeyer said they appreciate having something waiting for them in the refrigerator, instead of making a late-night run to the grocery store.
"We've had guests say they wouldn't eat if it wasn't for our adopt-a-meal program," Springmeyer said.
For their part, the youth enjoy having the chance to serve, and to get to work together.
Olivia Anderson, 9, even enjoyed cleaning up because she got to be with her friends, while helping someone in need.
Others, like Destini Cooper, 11, enjoy knowing they have eased the worries of the guests, who are so preoccupied with their sick children.
For others, it is all about the food.
"I know that these people don't have dinner some nights, so it's nice that we're giving them a really good dinner," said Connor Wright, 12, adding that the food prepared always is something he would be happy to eat.
YouthCity is providing further service to Ronald McDonald House by redecorating one of the guest rooms. Children in the sewing class are making a quilt for the bed, the photography class will frame several of their works and the art class is painting a mural on one wall.
"We want to make it feel more like a home than a hotel," Springmeyer said.