Sunday, March 16, 2014

Ronald McDonald House

This past Wednesday I had an amazing opportunity to join some lovely Thirty-One team mates at the Seattle Ronald McDonald House! We made and served dinner for the families, and got a tour of their facilities.
After an afternoon of meal prep!
That place is such a God send! 
They have a movie theater, an indoor playground, an outdoor playground, various game rooms and computer rooms, a room just for teenagers, a huge laundry room with top of the line machines, various lobbies for families to relax in, and of course the cafeteria/kitchen.
Attached to the building are apartments that the families get to live in for free! 
There are also two separate buildings filled with apartments. One is reserved just for those families with children who have highly compromised immune systems {i.e, bone marrow transplants,etc...}. Those families do not attend the dinners, obviously.

While we were serving dinner, which is cafeteria-style, we received so many heart felt thank-you's. The children were so sweet and absolutely adorable! The parents and guardians looked exhausted, but were in good spirits. The staff and other volunteers thanked us over and over again, and you could tell that these people truly value volunteer-ship. 


If it were not for volunteerism, places like this might not exist.
Places like this might not be as well run, or as well organized as it was.
They might not be able to help as many children and families as they would like. 
But thankfully they do!


Being able to do this was so incredibly humbling for me.
And frankly, it made me feel crumby about never doing it before.
How dare I not notice what is going on around me, so close to our home!
Out of sight, out of mind, right? Isn't that usually how ignorance comes to be?
 If our family needed those facilities we would never know any different.
Thankfully we do not, but for those who do, I am grateful that places such as the Ronald McDonald House exist!


My Thirty-One team is going to try to volunteer there once a month.
There is so much you can do there to help out!
Art projects with the kids, donate items, meal prep, etc...
Thirty-One has teamed up with the Ronald McDonald House, and created a thermal tote that can be purchased with portions of the proceeds going to directly to the Ronald McDonald House!


In fact, my team is collecting Blessing Bags to donate.
If you would like to help out in anyway, it would be greatly appreciated!
Contact me if you would like donate!


Just think of how much the little things could help these families!
The smallest comforts and conveniences could make a world of difference!



1 comment:

  1. What a wonderful thing you did. That foundation does such wonderful things for needy families. I have known people to stay there while their preemies are in the nicu or their child is going for their 8th surgery. I'm proud of you ladies.

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