Scents of sausage and bacon pervaded a bustling kitchen as a group of boys assembled brunch on an icy, sunny Sunday morning in Hyde Park.

Entirely composed of boys in grades sixth through 12th, the Junior Board of Northbrook provides services to the Ronald McDonald House Charities with the intent “to teach the values of service and philanthropy” to its members, according to adult leader Ann Cariola.

Senior Derek Franklin, who has been a member of the board since he was in seventh grade, said the services provided by the group are important because they supply for families who have a child with complex medical needs at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital.

“I think it means a lot to those families,” said Franklin. “It can make them feel, at least for that meal, a little bit better, which can make a world’s difference.”

Cariola said that the meals usually draw positive reactions from the occupants of the Ronald McDonald house and that their experiences at the house also make a bigger impact on the recipients than just a full stomach.

“There was this one grandmother of a child that was dying, and she came up to one of us and thanked us,” said Cariola. “I remember that she said, ‘this is the only time that I smiled all day.’”

The group, which has garnered the nickname of the “Root Beer Boys” from one of the residents at the Ronald McDonald house for a time when the group served homemade root beer, is in its ninth year, according to Cariola, one of four adults administering the group.

As an adult leader, Cariola manages group membership, communicates with members about volunteering times, and facilitates the scheduling of meetings. She said that she had the idea for the group after a family member had to stay at a Ronald McDonald House.

“My husband’s cousin, his daughter, she had to have a liver transplant while she was an infant, so they stayed at the Ronald McDonald House,” said Cariola. She added that she became interested in doing the service for the House when one of her sons was in junior high after a cousin was on the board of the charity.

The Junior Board aims to continue to have fundraisers to collect money to donate to the Ronald McDonald House ranging from gift wrapping to sidewalk cider sales in downtown Northbrook, according to Cariola.

“When we did [the smaller fundraisers], we made max [500] or 600 dollars,” said Cariola. “Last year was when we started our benefit concert, and we did our second one this year. We made $4,000 last year, and we made approximately $5,000 this year.”

The group held its main fundraising event of the year, a rock concert, on Dec. 9, 2012. Four bands performed at The Alley in Highwood, and money was collected via raffle ticket sales. Cariola said there are no plans for another, similar fundraising event for the rest of the school year, but she plans to continue with more concerts in the future.

Although Cariola said she had no plans to expand membership capacity of the group, she encourages other interested parents to form similar groups, such as an analogous group for girls.

Junior Parker Roth, a member of the group, said one of the most important motivations for members of the group was the desire to “give back.”

“I know everyone’s favorite part is just going down and seeing the reactions,” said Roth. “You think a meal’s like a small thing, but then you go down there and see what these people are going through, and you see how much one meal makes a difference, and that’s really what makes everything worth it.”