My First Impression of the Ronald McDonald House!

            The first time I heard about the Ronald McDonald House (RMH), I was in seventh grade when my junior high religion class required service hours. Some people picked RMH as their service site, and it had always interested me because it was such a popular organization, but I never knew what it really was about. The Ronald McDonald House is an organization that provides families with hospitalized children a place to sleep, eat, and live while their child is sick. This lifts the burden of hotel and travel costs for families who do not live near any type of medical facility. RMH is staffed with many volunteers who care strongly about these families.

            Thankfully, I have gotten the amazing opportunity to put my help and service toward RMH. More specifically, I have begun to work volunteer shifts in the Ronald McDonald Family Room, which is a room dedicated to the RMH in the Kentucky Children’s Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. This room is strictly for parents and families who have children in the NICU or PICU. Coffee and light refreshments are served complimentary, and my job as a volunteer is to keep the room tidy and running. Going into the volunteer position, I expected it to be boring. I expected the families who came into the room to ignore my presence and not need my help. I have been delightfully surprised!

Third Visit!!

Hear about my last visit!!!

Click above to watch
I had quite the interesting experience!

Tour of the house

I was given the "ok" today to take some pictures of the house, as long as there weren't any guests in them.  I couldn't get a picture of the bedrooms because they were all occupied.

This is in the hallway when you walk in.  Yesterday Santa had some to visit all the families staying there.  There are not any TVs in the personal bedrooms so there is a one in the hallway where they can go and watch.  That is also supposed to help promote a sense of community.

This is the dining area.  You generally only see guests at breakfast and at dinner because they spend the rest of their day at the hospital.  Every night different groups sign up to come and cook dinner at the house.  It is really nice to see all the families together at the end of the day and seeing that they don't have to go through all of this hardship alone.

This is the community game room.  Truthfully, I haven't seen very many people in there during my time volunteering.  There is a pool table, some old fishing video games, and a TV where the kids can hookup an Xbox.

Above, is the kids' playroom.  I have seen the siblings of the kids here getting treatment play in here before.  There are some pretty basic kids toys and some books and coloring supplies.

Lastly, this is the storage room, where I have spent most of time.  All the donations and necessary materials for the bedrooms are kept up here.  It is a little unreal, the amount of stuff they are given.  

Analysis of a TED Talk given by Paul Starr

In this video I analyze a TED Talk given by Paul Starr on how America struggles over health care reform. This is a link to his talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKCPGDGcRME

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.