Hey y’all! With it being Giving Tuesday, I felt it was only appropriate to talk to you about the two organizations that are near and dear to my heart - The Ronald McDonald House and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
First, The Ronald McDonald House. I was always involved with RMH growing up and once joining ADPi in college (for those who don’t know RMH is ADPi’s national philanthropy) I became even more involved.
The Ronald McDonald House is a home away from home for families with children in the hospital. Its community motto is - the house that love built. Their vision says “We believe that when you change a child’s life, you change a family’s, which can change a community, and ultimately the world.”
The RMH has helped more than 10 million families over the years. The houses around the world provide more than 3,000 rooms a night for families. It is more than just a room, it is the ability to be close to your child when they’re in the hospital instead of having to go home, the ability to know that if need be you can be with them in minutes. Most houses are walking distance to the hospital. To stay at the house all they ask from you is for $10 a night
if you are able to afford it. If you are unable
($10 doesn’t seem like a lot but some families are there for days and it can quickly add up) they simply ask you to pick a chore from the list to do around the house. These chores are simple things like vacuuming or cleaning the kitchen, and you never see anyone complaining about having to do this. Some families pay the $10
and pick a few chores. This is where the fundraising we do comes in, it helps pay for those stays. They also have the Ronald McDonald Family Room that is inside the hospital in case you don’t have time to leave or any other reasons you might have. These rooms have TVs, washer and dryers, kitchens, showers, beds. Anything you might need while in the hospital for a long time, which it usually is since the average stay at the RMH is 9 days.
The second is St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Chances are you’ve already heard a lot about this wonderful organization, but I’m still going to talk about it!
Danny Thomas founded St. Jude on February 4, 1962. His dream was that no child should die in the dawn of life. At the time they had 125 employees and an annual budget of 1 million dollars. Today they have more than 3,600 employees and a daily operating cost of $2 million dollars
(which is primarily covered by public contributions). In 1962, the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer, was 4 percent. Today, about 98% go into remission within weeks of starting treatment and about 90% can be cured. This is thanks to research and treatment protocols developed at St. Jude. They also cover all your fees. When a child comes to St. Jude all they have to pay is their travel fees to get there the
FIRST time, after that everything is taken care of. Your bills, food, and gas- I really do mean everything. Most people don’t realize this and that’s why fundraising and donations are such a large part of St. Jude. They were the first institution founded with the sole purpose of research and treatment for childhood diseases.
They also don’t keep what they find under lock and key, information discovered at St. Jude is shared with doctors worldwide.
Maybe you’ve heard all this before, maybe it was all new to you. Regardless, I hope it was eye-opening and I hope you’ll consider giving this year. Maybe not to one of these, but somewhere. And remember – money isn’t the only thing you can give. Most all organizations would be happy to have you volunteer!
I’ve provided the links for each organization to donate if you’re interested.
The Ronald McDonald House –
www.rmhc.org/donate
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital –
www.stjude.org/donatenow
Thank you for reading!
