Saturday, July 5, 2008

Ronald Mc Donald House~SLC




In the Entry Way to Greet their Guests


 It is located in a beautiful neighborhood not far from the hospital.

There are beautiful tree lined streets all around.

A House of Love and Service

It is impossible to get a picture of the front of the house~
It is covered in a lush canopy of trees.

The back of the house and parking lot~always full!

Beautiful gardens~flowers, shrubs and veggies too!

The Welcome Board tells about all the events
of the day and who is bringing in dinner!

The Living Room

Music Room and Fireplace Area
With Beautiful Aquarium

Small part of the Dining Area

The Kitchen

The Game Room

This is my all time favorite charity. This organization is absolutely amazing. The community gives unending service and it only is $10.00 a night to stay here. Can you imagine how many families find relief in room and board for ten dollars? Like, all of them! Some live here for weeks at a time, even months. Oh, and they have numerous big screen TVs, large family room, play room, free laundry facilities with modern equipment, free detergent, etc. They have a big basket with free books, new toys, greeting cards, etc. They have a computer you can use, and all the food you can imagine in the numerous cupboards and freezers and refrigerators. It is just overwhelming. I find myself choking back tear here all the time. Everyone is expected to contribute to the good of all~ in cleaning and emptying the dishwashers, and cleaning up after themselves taking care of their own rooms, etc. It is great for the girls to experience this. I hope you never have to stay here but I wanted you to see it and know the world is full of wonderful, caring people!

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Fast forward now to our Family Reunion 2012.  Our theme this Year was Service in the Community.  We made 75 greeting cards for the Ronald Mc Donald House in Salt Lake City.  Every member of the family made some and it was really fun to see what the dad's came up with!  People bring new items of all kinds to the House all the time to give to the people staying here while their babies are hospitalized.   On our way back to Provo we stopped with all ten kids and delivered them to the House.  Hazel was almost 5 at the time and you can imagine her delight when they still had her precious baby picture there on their bulletin board. It was such a good experience for all the kids and they felt the happiness of serving and giving as a family.  That made all the hauling of paper goods and art supplies and picking up the bizillion tiny pieces of paper that fell on the floor after the snipping and clipping during our crafting at Sundance.  We love you Ronald Mc Donald House!  You gave us so much right when we needed it.  Now we will pay it forward whenever we can.


Hazel at 6 months old
She spent 83 days in the hospital her first year.
Ronald Mc Donald House was our home away from home.

5 comments:

laura.elizabeth said...

Wow, what an amazing place. It makes me what to cry too. I love that there is a place like this for families in need. Every hospital should have one, don't you think?

Laura said...

Such an impressive, incredible place! I feel so bad for baby Hazel and family. I really hope they can find a solution---SOON and stop being such a "baffling" case!

Sally said...

Thanks for keeping us all updated. It's nice to see the Ronald McDonald house, what an amazing place, what a blessing during a hard time! Hope you're all hanging in there! Prayers for you all!

mandy* said...

I'm so amazed by that place. What an incredible service. Mark's aunt, cousin & family are staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Florida. I wonder if they do some sort of fundraising walk/run for the Rondo Condo. I'm going to research...

Sara said...

I love the Ronald McDonald house! Years ago when my cousin's little girl had 3rd degree burns on her, we stayed at the one in Mobile, Alabama while Livi was at the children's burn hospital there....it is an amazing place!