12 Feb Gina Menendez Lacayo and Family Featured in Cocoplum Stroll Magazine
February 13, 2026 — Gina Menendez Lacayo, a second-generation McDonald’s owner/operator and a pillar of our RMHC South Florida family, was featured alongside her husband, Gonzalo, and their three daughters: Catalina Sofia, Alessandra Lucia, and Luciana Maria in the latest cover of Cocoplum Stroll Magazine.
While the feature highlights their success as business leaders and their deep roots in the Miami community, it also tells a much larger story: a story of a family whose DNA is woven into the very fabric of the Ronald McDonald House.
Gina’s connection to the Ronald McDonald House started in childhood. She fondly remembers visiting the House alongside her mother, absorbing the spirit of service at a young age.
That legacy has grown into a multi-generational family effort:
- Her father, Pete, serves as the Treasurer of the RMHC South Florida Board of Directors.
- Her brother Peter is in his tenth year leading Clays for a Cause, a signature fundraiser for our operations.
- Gina and her brother Alex have both served on the Capital Campaign, ensuring the House can meet the needs of future generations.
The Cocoplum Stroll feature arrives at a historic moment for our charity. Last September, the Menendez Lacayo family stood with us at the groundbreaking of the new Griffin Family Campus, a 7-story, 60,000-square-foot expansion located just steps from Holtz Children’s Hospital.
Gina understands the urgency of this project more than most. She knows that behind the statistics are real families in crisis. In 2025 alone, 1oo families were turned away because our House was at full capacity.
“Behind those numbers are parents sleeping in hospital chairs or cars during the hardest moments of their lives,” Gina explains.
Perhaps the most touching part of the Lacayo’s story is how they are involving their three daughters in the mission. Whether it’s creating Mother’s Day baskets for moms staying at the House or sponsoring lunches, Gina and Gonzalo are teaching their girls that giving back is an action, not just a conversation.
“Faith is the foundation of our home,” they explain. “It shapes how we parent, how we treat one another, and how we show up for others.”
We have raised over $28 million toward our $33 million goal, but the final stretch is the most critical. As Gina and Gonzalo shared in their feature, “Donations of any size matter, from major gifts to simply rounding up at McDonald’s. Every dollar helps keep families together.”
We are incredibly proud to have the Lacayo family in our corner. Their legacy of care is the foundation upon which we are building the future of hope for South Florida’s families.