My Third and Final Visit

Students volunteering to cook dinner at the house

I have now visited the Ronald McDonald House here in Lexington for my third and final volunteer experience. I can honestly say that it was a trying but rewarding experience to volunteer at an organization that provides services that are life changing for the families of those with children in the hospital. This visit to the house was the same as the others given that I was completing the same tasks as well as sealing and stamping over 100 envelopes, however this visit would prove to be different than the others. My third visit to the house was the most rewarding because there was a brief period where I was able to interact and talk with some of the families that were staying at the house as well as with some of the other people that volunteer at the house. This was a nice change of pace as I learned about some of the people that stayed there and their stories such as where they were from, how their child was doing and other things like that that made up their story. I also got a chance to talk with other volunteers and found out why some of them decided to work or volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House when they could have chosen several other organizations that do good work in the community. During the visit, since I had decided to do a 4 hour shift, I was asked if I wanted to stay for dinner and meet some of the guests that stayed at the house. I decided to take this offer and stay as it was a good opportunity to learn from some of the guests at the house. Talking to the people that stayed at the house was rewarding because they notice all of the work that the volunteers do to help keep the house running. I also got to talk with the wonderful ladies of the EKU ADPi who had cooked the meal that night. As I talked with them I learned why they had chosen to volunteer to cook meals and why they had chosen the Ronald McDonald House as their philanthropy. The third visit was the most rewarding because  I was able to interact with others and I did not have to do just busy work the entire time that I was there.

TedTalk: The way we think about charity is dead wrong

Dan Pallotta has recently become my favorite TedTalk guest after listening to his speech on charities. It made me appreciate my time at Ronald McDonald House more so than before.  He explains how we have been undermining the causes we love by worrying too much about money and time.  RMDC does a very good job at limiting their overhead costs, but that's why they rely so heavily on their volunteers.  Pallotta explains that it is okay to have overhead costs, how else are these charities going to be able to run?  Another reason RMDH is so successful is because they are not afraid to advertise.  Granted, they have McDonald's backing them, but I knew what Ronald McDonald House was long before I had even started volunteering there.  In his speech he explains that advertising makes charities successful and we, as donors, need to get over the fact that charities have to spend money to make money for their cause.  We can not expect every dollar raised to go directly in cash aid, they would run out of funding very quickly.  People use charity as a way to feel good, your everyday Americans are becoming philanthropists because they have some extra money to throw around.  Pallotta went on to say how sometimes time is better than money and you need to volunteer instead of just throwing your dollars around.  

"So Disney can make a new $200 million movie that flops, and nobody calls the attorney general. But you do a little $1 million community fundraiser for the poor, and it doesn't produce a 75 percent profit to the cause in the first 12 months, and your character is called into question"

I really enjoyed this TedTalk because it made complete sense.  It just took someone, like Dan Pallotta to say I had the wrong idea, and I totally see why now.  This definitely changed the way I think about my volunteering time.  I know that they use me to do the work they can't afford to hire people to do.  It is nice to feel appreciated.

Watch here!

Financing a charity

In the beginning I was very annoyed about my duties at the Ronald McDonald House of Lexington.  I pretty much would just come in and clean for them.  After further research (of the Louisville house because the Lexington branch did not have much published) I learned how much they rely on their volunteers.  RMDH has a way lower percentage of overhead costs compared to a lot of the charities I have looked into.  Meaning that, they don't pay their workers or executives very much.  The workers at the house and lexington are pretty much all volunteers, minus the 3 managers who actually make a small hourly wage.  With very limited resources they need volunteers like me to come and do the work they aren't staffed to do.  I still don't enjoy washing bed sheets that people have slept in and cleaning the downstairs bathroom, but they need someone to do it or else the house wouldn't be able to function as well.  

The second time I volunteered, there were slightly more exciting things that needed to be done.  The group that came to cook didn't have all their people show up, so I got to help in the kitchen, which was kind of fun.  Also, a bakery in downtown Lexington came and dropped off 300 doughnuts so I had to bag all of those (and take some home).  RMDH is an awesome charity and does so much for their families, they're just not staffed the way they should be.  And even though I don't have the most fun volunteering, they very much value my time and commitment. 

My Second Visit to the Ronald McDonald House

My first experience at the House

My first experience at the Ronald McDonald House was an interesting experience as it did not go as I had expected it to. Typically a volunteer shift is either two or four hours so I decided that I was going to do a shift of four hours. When I first walked into the house, the house manager seemed to be confused that a volunteer was showing up at that hour. However, this was not exactly her fault as I had only been put on the schedule less than a week prior and she was not the usual house manager for that particular shift. Unfortunately, my first volunteer experience at the house was not off to a great start as she also did not know what there was to do for me seeing as it was my first visit. As I had already had a house orientation, I sort of knew what I could expect to be doing around the house. Most of the jobs that the volunteers at the house would be doing are jobs that help with the day to day operations such as cleaning out rooms that have been recently vacated, getting the rooms ready for a new guest, helping keep the kitchen clean, laundry, sorting pop tabs, etc. A majority of the work that the volunteers complete is very mundane work and does not completely provide for an enriching experience that one would expect out of service work. The first job that I was given was to mop the kitchen and dining area floors as they had not been mopped for some time and needed a good cleaning. One of the ladies that was volunteering helped to show me where all of the supplies that I would need were located and then I was on my way to mop the floors. While this was not exactly the job that I had in mind, it is none the less an important job since the people there are always going in and out of the hospital, and it is important to keep people healthy, especially the kids that are recovering in the hospital.

The picture above is what a typical room at the house looks like. Later on, I ended up helping clean and prepare a room that had been vacated the previous day. This job involved cleaning all of the surfaces in the room, making the bed, setting out clean towels, toiletry supplies and other small tasks to get the room ready for the next family. Overall, this was the most time consuming task as there are so many little jobs that have to be completed in order for the room to be ready. After this task was done, I sat around at the front desk for awhile talking to the manager that was on duty and another volunteer that I had been working with to clean and prepare the room. While there several people walked in and out of the house, some of them walked by the desk and went about their day, others would stop at the desk and talk. This was the most interesting part of the day because  I was able to learn about the people that stay at the house. A majority of the families that the house serves come from Eastern Kentucky in some of the poorest counties of the United States. Most of these families have a child in the NICU as they are born prematurely or they are in the PICU as they have a child with cancer. Overall, it was an interesting experience and I look forward to my second visit.

Financial Burdens of Families

This is an infographic that I composed on social issues that are relevant to the Ronald McDonald House here in Lexington, Ky, as well as across the globe. It specifically discusses the effects of the Affordable Care Act and the financial burden on the families of those with children who have been diagnosed with pediatric cancer.  One of the issues that the Ronald McDonald House helps families with is the access to a place to stay while their child is in the hospital as well as after major treatments to help them recover. By providing the families with a place to stay it allows the families to be close to their child which is said to help aid in the recovery of the child as they are with people that love them. Many of the families that the house here in Lexington serves come from primarily Eastern Kentucky as well as Southwest Kentucky so these families do not have that much money to begin with. The cost of the treatments creates a significant financial burden on these families as some may or may not have insurance that will be able to help cover the costs of these medical procedures. One of the workers at the house on the first day that I went there for a volunteer orientation said that a large majority of the families that stay there pay less than $2 a night to stay there, instead they are given a chore to do around the house that they have to complete. The Ronald McDonald House provides them with an affordable place to stay as many of them simply can not afford a hotel room while their child is in the hospital for extensive periods of time.

Jobs and responsibilities

After my first time volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House of Lexington, I learned that was going to be doing more "dirty work" than actually interacting with the guests of the house.  I did a lot of cleaning.  From cleaning the rooms for new guests to washing dishes and a lot of laundry.  I was somewhat disappointed to not get to talk to the guests more.  At dinner, which different groups get to come and cook, it was a nice break to get to talk to guests briefly and not to have to be cleaning.  I was told that the house was in a little of a dry spell, currently they have way less guests than they are used to. The house does provide a lot for the families staying there including meals, snacks, hygiene products, entertainment and resources if they need it.  I got to meet one little boy who was going through chemo, he came to me looking for the Xbox controller.  He seemed to feel pretty at home at the RMDH.  All the staff members knew him well and asked a lot of questions about how he was doing which was very nice to see.  I learned that the house provides everything the families could possibly need, so I am excited to see what else I get to do for the families moving forward.  I am looking forward to going back next week and hopefully getting to have more important jobs!