by Tracy Schmid
Daisy Troop 1692 and Brownie Troop 996 put together 10 birthday bags for our “Birthday in a Bag” Project. Each bag contained cake mix, pans, frosting, candles, tablecloth, plates, napkins, cups, plastic wear, party hats and much more for the children at the Ronald McDonald House.
They placed the bags in a small birthday room filled with new toys for the children. On their birthday they get to go into the room and pick something. We also got to see one of the beautiful rooms a family would stay in, (which happened to be the only open room they had that day) the playground, computer area, laundry areas and the fabulous commercial kitchen that they have with numerous, ovens, refrigerators … for the families to use.
This is an amazing place here are a few interesting things we learned:
- This house has room for 28 families of five. One side is for family members, the other side is for family members and a recovering child that still needs to visit with Doctors.
- You have to live 30 miles away from the hospital your child is in to qualify to stay.
- The families do not have to pay for anything, however they ask for a $15 a day donation if possible.
- There is an on-site chef who prepares breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday.
- There is also food available for the families to cook on their own.
- Unborn children are recognized here, so an expecting mother with complications may stay.
- They primarily use the soda can tops collected to have the facility cleaned. When families leave after an extended visit the rooms are deep cleaned and repainted.
- We learned of a little girl from Japan that recently got to go home after being here for 7 months battling a rare blood disease Unfortunately, this is a rare miracle most families go home without their children.
This experience made me feel truly blessed to have 3 healthy children. We will definitely leave the Ronald McDonald House on our list for Community Service Projects.
