Since I have been in Alpha Delta Pi, I have grown to love The Ronald McDonald House Charity, also known as simply RMHC. This is the international philanthropy of Alpha Delta Pi. My sophomore year, I was given the opportunity to be able to go to the Memphis RMHC location and to have a movie night with the children that were staying in the hospital at the time. This was an amazing opportunity for me; before this, I had never been to a children’s hospital, and my perception changed concerning the children that were staying at the hospital.
I always thought of a children’s hospital as a sad place where the children don’t get to be kids like every other child. However, I was wrong. The children that I got to visit shed a new light on children hospitals because these kids were like every other child. Just because they had problems that kept them from being at home did not change the fact that they were still kids and that they were still able to enjoy their childhood. They had the toys that all children need, as well as the areas where they were able to play and be free.
Here is what you should know about RMHC:
What they are about: RMHC is about keeping families together and close to the children while they get the medical treatment that they need. RMHC opened on October 15, 1974, and they have helped many families since then. In 2016 alone, they helped over 5.5 million families.
RMHC has the Ronald McDonald houses, which are the hospitals, where people can stay, they have RMHC rooms, they have mobiles which travel to different areas, and they even provide grants for families. Ronald McDonald Houses provide families with home-cooked meals, private bedrooms and playrooms for children.
Some of the services that are provided at the Ronald McDonald Houses are special suites for those with suppressed immune systems, accredited education programs since many might have to miss school while at RMH, recreational activities, non-clinical services and sibling support systems. The belief of RMHC is that no family should be turned away because of their inability to pay high medical costs, and a child should not have to go without, either.
For more information on what all is provided at Ronald McDonald House Charity, please visit: https://www.rmhc.org/about-us
Photo courtesy of Erin Bell.