"Ronald McDonald House of Seattle"McDonald
                       It's more than just a place to stay!Seattle is More Than a Place to Stay.

Many members of the Shamrock's soccer clubs have volunteered over the years at Ronald McDonald House. We have seen first hand the many lives that are touched by the great work that they do. We are pleased to help this great cause and look forward to a long association with this Ronald McDonald House of Seattle.

Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Western Washington & Alaska supports families with seriously ill children by providing a “home-away-from-home” while their child is receiving treatment at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center.  Without our services, many families would not be able to afford housing in the area. We have the capacity to accommodate 80 families each night. In 2007, we provided 24,531 nights of housing and services to approximately 1,185 families.

Our House is not a hotel, motel or hospice, but truly a home-away-from-home. Here, families find a haven away from the tensions of the hospital and gain support from others who are going through similar experiences.

The House is actually three separate buildings. In two of the buildings, families have their own private rooms, sharing communal living areas, kitchens, a pantry, dining areas, laundry, computer rooms, playrooms, a home theater, teen room and library. There are places for people to gather and share concerns and experiences and places to be alone, to read a book or watch television. In our bone marrow transplant apartments, each unit is self-sufficient with a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living area, washer and dryer.

We ask families to pay $20 per night when they stay with us, but many are unable to afford this fee. Thanks to support from the community, no one is ever turned away due to an inability to pay.

For more information, please visit www.rmhcseattle.org.

Copyright © 2008 by Ronald McDonald House of Charities of Western Washington & Alaska.


 If your interested in volunteering at Ronald McDonald House Seattle contact :
 
Judy Adams, Manager of Volunteer Services
(206) 838-0606
judy@rmhcseattle.org                  Information on Volunteering



Why I volunteer at Ronald McDonald House!!

Below is a letter I got from a mom staying at the Ronald McDonald House, at Christmas 2005.  She also gave me a coin that said thank you on it, an angel pin and a piece of paper that read "Ronald McDonald House".

Dave,
It was a warm fall day in Montana. I was feeding our cockatiel when we got the call from the doctor saying we had to go right away to the Children’s Hospital. At that moment I didn’t have time to worry, much, except for whom would care for Rosy, Gracie, Elly and the Dorks (all our pets) while we were gone. We packed enough items to last two weeks, and soon boarded a sleepy train headed for Seattle.

While on the train, searching for change, (my mind so overwhelmed it was blank) I pulled from my pocket a crumpled piece of paper the nurse had hurriedly given me at the Evergreen Medical Clinic. It read “Ronald McDonald House.” Not having any meaning to me, I crumpled it back up, put it back in my pocket, and cursed the fact I didn’t have two quarters.

Once at the Children’s Hospital in Seattle, the diagnosis was a stage three malignant ovarian tumor.  Right then and there, that fast, in an instant, my daughter became a critically ill child with a life threatening disease—Cancer. She may or may not be able to have children of her own when, or if, she grows up.  You see, she is just 14 years.  She is my only child.

After that initial verbal devastation from the doctor, with all our travel belongings packed in our backpacks strapped to our backs, we just wandered around the hospital in shock.  We were tired, scared, worried, and destitute.  Finally when my stomach ached to the point of needing a remedy, I searched my pocket for a rogue Rolaids or Tums, and there it was again, that crumpled up piece of paper with those three little words.  And this time, something deep inside of my heart compelled me to open it again.  Remnant calmness came over me as I read “Ronald McDonald House.”

I started asking around and found out that the Ronald McDonald House was across the street from the hospital, and it was there to help make the lives of children and their families better while their stay at the hospital. I was told half of the children who stay at the house were battling cancer and all in the house lived farther than 60 miles away from their homes, friends, family, and loved ones.  Then, I was told they had a warm place for us to stay.  Here we were what felt like a million miles from nowhere, not knowing a soul, with little to no money, when we found out a caring someone was “leaving the light on for us….” Tears became inevitable, they still do.

Lives change instantly when there is diagnosis of a life threatening illness or disease.  The burdens and stress often grow enormous to unbearable.  Some households go from two incomes to one. Some go from one to none.  Often family members have to move away from other family members, including the other children, to care for their critically ill child.  Medical bills can easily topple the $100,000 mark just after a month and a half of treatment.  Treatment can range from months to years.  Family member(s) may lose their job(s) from missing so much time from work.  And more often than you would think possible, relationships crumble.

As of this writing we will have been at Ronald McDonald House close to 90 days, a long way from the initial thought of 14 days.  We have come to know the Ronald McDonald House as “our house” and all the members, staff and volunteers as “our family.”  We share far more than the community kitchens, laundry rooms, and living areas.  We share hopes, triumphs, and wishes, as well as agony, disbelief, and sometimes, death.  When a child dies, a part of all our hearts rip apart, and we cry out in pain, as a member of our own has fallen.  Sic children have passed since we have been here, some from within the house, some that are not.  As I write this, the seventh is fighting not to fall.

It is now a brisk cold winter’s day, and my daughter and I get to count the days now until we get to go home.  A milestone for us and to those who know what we have been through.  We can’t wait to see Rosy, Gracie, (Elly ran away), and the Dorks.  This will be the end of round one in our life journey with cancer.  So far, the score is one for Lacy, zero for cancer.

When I went to the hospital to type and print this letter, I went by a small waiting area outside surgery.  I saw a young mother with a backpack, diaper bag, stroller, bundled baby, and crying backpacked toddler dragging around his blanket and empty sippy cup. They all looked tired, scared, worried, and hungry.  As our eyes met, I could tell she was about to cry.  I walked over to her, reached into my pocket and pulled from it a small piece of paper…….

Janice & Lacy

Ronald McDonald House/Christmas 2005