The picture above is of the pedestrian bridge that connects Ronald McDonald House and CHW. This week again I walked this bridge multiple times and got to thinking of my many crossings of this bridge over the last year.
Archives
Love Notes: New Friends, New Family, New Temporary Home
This note was left by RMHC guest Jake L. and his family:
Coming from California, we had to leave family and friends and the comfort of our own home. Coming to RMHC, we made friends that we now consider family and found a new home. A priceless experience in the scariest time in our life. RMHC let us relax at least enough to be full time parents again. Thank you!!!
Love Notes: Serenity
This note was written by RMHC guest Wanda:
Thank you for providing a place of serenity and peace in a time of turmoil. Your staff has been kind and thoughtful in all things. You found a stranger and took her in. God bless you in all you do.
The Sleepy Secret Garden
The garden is sleeping, resting in the depth of winter, pristine and beautiful. The House is NOT sleeping or resting in the middle of this winter season. Volunteer groups are busy helping tackle big projects like deep cleaning rooms, meal groups continue to prepare delicious comfort foods that nourish our families, art and music therapy provide opportunities for our families to express and process the myriad of feelings that accompany having a child with a serious illness. Each and every day our House the staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to take care of our families focus on “what else.” What else can we do to ease their burdens? What else can we do to bring a smile? What else can we do to share our story with others who can help us as we help these families who call our House home? While the garden sleeps, buried now under a blanket of snow we wait with great anticipation for a change in season- for spring and the promise of new life- The season of life never sleeps in our House. There is always more to do even in the depth of winter.
Thoughts from the Heart
Looking out the window into the Secret Garden it’s hard to imagine that Christmas is next week….. Inside the House it’s very clear that something special is happening. There are beautiful villages carefully placed in the Great Room, tree lights twinkle, snowmen and Santa’s smile and there is magic in the air. Each and every day wonderful people from places near and far are dropping off donations from Wishlist drives and holiday party toy collections- and we are grateful. The fireplace burns, casting a warm glow as families snuggle on the couches reading. The playroom is filled with princesses and firefighters who are giggling and saving the world. Countless groups have spent time in our kitchens creating delicious snacks from scratch making our Lunches-2-Go even more special. The sights and sounds of the holidays are present for these families who are very far from home and the spirit of the season is alive and well here in the House that Love Built. Memories are being made as carols are sung and Santa visits. Friendships are formed around the kitchen tables where cookies are decorated. The gifts of Christmas, those wrapped and those found in the smile of a volunteer bless our families – and we are grateful.
As I anticipate my third holiday season in the House I continue to be astonished every day by the love that surrounds this mission and the people who give so generously of their time and talent to sustain it – and I am grateful.
Bridget Kesner, Director of Philanthropy
Love Notes: The Bridge
This post was written by Amanda, a mother of two and an RMHC guest. The original post can be found on her personal blog.
Bridge
Since then we have spent at least one night there each month. RMH has become our second home. A place Jilli cries every time we check out and a place she counts down the days until we go back. A place were we have connected with so many other medical families and where the staff and volunteers have become our cheerleaders and support.
I have cried as I have walked the bridge in frustration of genetics appointments or how sick one of the girls were. I have celebrated walking the bridge as we are discharged after several days in the hospital. I have battled with medical equipment as I have walked the bridge attempting to get it to work properly. I have ran the bridge taking one of my kids to the ER. I have joked and laughed with friends and have some funny stories going over the bridge. I have also walked the bridge heading to the hospital to support friends who are in the hospital with their kiddo. I have been filled with anxiety walking the bridge as I wheel my kids across ready to hand them over to a surgeon.
Through a Volunteer’s Eyes: The Magic Room
I am a Hospitality Volunteer at the House and I am also one of the Hospitality Cart Volunteers at Children’s Hospital.
Trip to the Magic Room: It is an amazing room and you realize it the minute you open the door. It is filled with toys and books. In the past, when I took our families to the Magic Room, I thought it was more about the toys, the joy of getting something not expected. I realized, recently, that it was “hope” that we were giving to the families. Maybe, through the Magic Room, they see a future holiday, a future Christmas, a future without pain or tests for their child. It wasn’t what was said that day; what I saw through the expressions on their faces was that the Ronald McDonald House above all gives hope. Hope that we will always be there for them, “keeping families close.“.Whether I am in an elevator, making up a room or wiping down a counter, I have never ever had a time when a guest didn’t say “thank you, we really appreciate this!”
To be able to help out at the House and the Hospital is truly a gift for me!
Nettie Raue
RMHC Volunteer
The Magic of Ronald McDonald House
There is something magical about the summer, as a whole new atmosphere is created around us. The grass is greener; days are longer and you feel a bit happier. When I started at Ronald McDonald House at the beginning of the summer, I was told by the staff that the House in the summer is the busiest, but also some of their favorite times happen in the House during the summer.
Staff members talked about the joy that fills the House in the summer in a different way though, with not only kids being on vacation and free from school, but the RMHC families are all together at the House. They don’t have to worry about the siblings being at school or activities they may have. They get the chance to play outside on the jungle gym, relax with movie night and laugh and make memories all together at the House.
I was excited to experience this all first hand, what I was not anticipating was all the programs and services the staff and volunteers provide for the families. From Movie Night, Kids Can Cook, and renovations in the Secret Garden for easier accessibility, the main mission of keeping families close is illustrated again and again at the House.
When you walk down the halls of Ronald McDonald House whether it be in the upstairs board game room, where two friends are competing in one of the most intense “go fish” games ever or by the family room where you witness two brothers being the bravest and coolest superheroes, there is something magical.
This magic is comparable to the magic of summer, where kids can play and laugh together. I have been so grateful for my time at Ronald McDonald House, even though it was short, I was fortunate enough to experience these magical moments of the strong and loving families at RMHC.
I’m Proud to Be at RMHC
From my vantage point as the Development Assistant, you might well ask, what could I possibly see or know or feel about this incredible mission we all serve at RMHC? After all, most of my days are spent entering donations in our donor database system, lurking about for duplicate entries, creating and sending thank you notes, extracting data for reports and mailings, reconciling monthly financials, searching for new donors, etc.
But I tell you that our mission breathes through every donation I record: I see commitment to our families by the patterns of giving: consecutive years of giving, increases in amounts, lapsed donors re-engaged; and of course, by the beautiful notes and cards and letters that accompany many gifts. These notes and cards are shared with staff, board and volunteers.
I always make sure that my thank you acknowledgments specifically reference their reason for giving, the fundraising they did on our behalf, the memorial or honorarium that sparked the donation. Imagine a company having a Jeans Day on Friday at work and then sending the proceeds to our House in recognition of the importance to them of the work we do.
No matter how mundane, how tedious or repetitious my daily tasks, I only have to look out my office door to see families in all their warmth and love, and unfortunately, in all their stress. I know that my smile, my small interactions with them, may just relieve the pain for a second: the effect upon my own humanity is priceless. My “little” office crises or tensions pale in comparison to what these families and their sick children are going through—and that helps me put everything in perspective.
I have volunteered for Hunger Task Force and Guest House, worked for Jewish Family Services, all performing extremely valuable services for this community. But I have never encountered a non-profit mission so directly and poignantly as I have here at Ronald McDonald House. The love and caring shine through even some of the darkest moments.
Sometimes, as I am out in about in the Great Room, I witness the complexity of life with families in unfamiliar surroundings with sick children and their siblings: a child is crying as he is being wheeled or walked out the front door. Is he/she going to the hospital for another treatment and fears the daily medicine or procedure coming? Or a sibling acting up because he is away from his home base, tired of all the attention focused elsewhere, needing to express his own anguish at the sudden changes.
At the end of the day, while I am driving home to my relatively comfortable suburban lifestyle, (and I have my CD player volume really amped up while listening to my beloved Bach cantatas), I reflect on the fragility of human life, the seeming randomness of what happens in the universe. I am comforted knowing that Ronald McDonald House does its own not so small part to prevent that random cruelty from crushing families at their most vulnerable. I am proud to be part of that effort.
Jerry Ryack, Development Assistant
Thanks for Golfing “Fore our Families!”
Another year, another great RMHC “Golfing Fore Our Families” Event!
209 golfers
50 volunteers
40+ sponsors
and over $80,000 raised!
It definitely was a fun-filled day at Ironwood Golf Course in Sussex, WI with special appearances by Ronald McDonald and the RMHC House Therapy Dog, McNugget.
Golfers enjoyed breakfast sandwiches by the Gouda Girls and sipped on fun libations before hitting the course! There were plenty of small bites at the turn compliments of our Kohl’s Cares friends, Belair Cantina, Corner Bakery and Wisconsin Distributors! The evening concluded with tasty hors d’oeuvres from Maxie’s, our silent auction and raffles, as well as an exciting helicopter golf ball drop.
We are so grateful for all of those who supported the House and our mission of keeping families close. It’s because of the generosity of so many that this event was a record-breaking success – Thank you!
Sweet and Joyful Moments at Work
I’m not going to lie, sometimes my job is really, really hard- not the actual tasks involved, but the enormity of the tasks before me. The energy in the House is often palatable and my tender heart sometimes breaks along with the families who are suffering. And then there are days that make my heart sing.
First thing Monday morning there were two sweet girls waiting for me to get to work, their little sister was over at the hospital and they were with their babysitter patiently awaiting my arrival. Huge hugs and even bigger smiles greeted me. I knew that their family had recently put in a pool, so when I inquired if they were now fish, I was quickly corrected, “NO, we are mermaids!” The conversation continued as I asked them what color their tails were and they giggled “Miss Bridget, we’re not REALLY mermaids!”
Moments like these, short and unbelievably sweet keep me going. This week has been filled with beautiful moments…. I witnessed two sisters tucked up near the Fairy Garden thoughtfully writing notes to the fairies who reside there. I chatted with a delightful donors who want to help us keep families close, they are grateful for healthy children and grandchildren.
A busy little two year old shared his train with me and we had a moment pushing it back and forth on the bench in our lobby- crashing trains is highly underrated! His mom was grateful for a moment to finish a conversation while he and I got better acquainted. There were hugs from volunteers who share their time and talents so unselfishly and it’s only Wednesday….. I can only imagine what treasures await me as I slide into the end of the week. My tender heart is beating strong and my determination to keep doing what I can to make sure these families have a place to call home for as long as they need is stronger.
Bridget Kesner, Director of Philanthropy