Have you ever seen the little houses on the counters at McDonald’s, or below the drive through window, to collect coins for the Ronald McDonald House charities? Have you ever had a school student tell you that they were collecting can tabs to raise money for Ronald McDonald houses? Have you ever wondered how this money is spent?
Recently we traveled to another state with our daughter for her to have a procedure in the cardiac cath lab. We had an appointment one day and surgery the next day. We were invited to spend the night in between in a Ronald McDonald House. A Ronald McDonald House provides a place for families with children in the hospital to stay. Families that travel for medical procedures have medical bills as well as missed work so not adding hotel bills to that equation is really a gift. Even better to me was how close the Ronald McDonald House was to the hospital, which meant I didn’t have to navigate my way around a big and strange city.
“The Ronald McDonald House was like a home away from home. It was so much better than having to stay in a hotel,” my daughter, age 12, says about her stay, adding, “I couldn’t believe that all of the nice things in our room had been donated.”
A volunteer group prepares a home-cooked meal for dinner.
When we checked in to the Ronald McDonald House a volunteer said, “Oh, it’s Wednesday. You’re in for a treat.” We later learned that the Wednesday night volunteer team that was preparing dinner were actually caterers.
That night we dined on cranberry stuffed tenderloin, a beautiful salad and a quinoa and pine nut side dish. Not to mention the apple strudel with warm carmel sauce. Maybe all Ronald McDonald House dinners aren’t this elaborate but remember that families that travel far from home to hospitals have been eating on the road and will be eating lots of hospital food so any homecooked meal is really a blessing.
Volunteers provide free and fun activities for families.
Many volunteer groups come to provide free activities for families. For example, the day before we arrived a group came to do free makeovers. The night we were there, there was a group of four ladies who were professional card makers who offered a “Homemade Valentine’s Day Card” class. They brought papers, ribbons, stampers and stickers and taught us how to make beautiful, unique homemade cards. For over an hour the three of us stayed busy and had lots of fun. What a blessings for a child and a family with a surgery looming over their heads.
There are so many fun distractions for kids.
Ronald McDonald Houses have playrooms for kids, teen rooms and libraries. Remember that many children going into the hospital have siblings too.
Our daughter was not able to eat or drink anything the day of her surgery. Being able to check out free DVDs was a great distraction. Snuggling up and watching “Soul Surfer” and “Happily Ever After” was a fun distraction as we avoided food and drink and counted down the hours before we checked in to the hospital.
Whether families stay one night or a month, Ronald McDonald House is there for them in so many ways.
As the volunteer showed us everything from the help yourself kitchen pantry, to the laundry room to the toiletries closet, she explained that some families may need to stay here for months which is why all of these things are so important.
We met a family who had been there for two weeks. Their baby was born premature and needed to stay in the hospital. They also had a two year old. Being able to stay in a home verses a hotel with a two year old was such a blessing financially and in so many other ways. The family was able to do their laundry, make meals and have things they needed for their daughter like a crib and high chair, books and toys, all the while being practically across the street from their infant daughter. The mom joined us for the card making class for a while in between visits with her baby. She really enjoyed making the homemade Valentine’s for her family and just taking a break with some other supportive ladies.
Talking with some of the volunteers I learned that in addition to giving financially, donating items for rooms or the kitchen, volunteering or serving meals, that many people also donated supplies. She said that this RMH had a Facebook page with many friends. The RMH posted needs such as when they were getting ready to run out of laundry detergent and lots of Facebook friends showed up with laundry detergent within hours.
We only needed to stay at Ronald McDonald House one night as we spent the night after surgery in our daughter’s room and she was able to go home the next day but we know we’ll have another surgery this summer and we are thankful to know that the Ronald McDonald House will be there for us.