“Sick kids need their families, families need a home, and that’s what the Ronald McDonald House is.”
Oreen Skiba, stakeholder relations manager for the Lakeland region for Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Alberta (RMHCNA), stressed the importance of the houses for those who use the locations in Edmonton and Calgary.
“In the last two years, Lakeland families have utilized the Ronald McDonald House the equivalent of 1,400 nights,” she explained during a presentation at the Cold Lake Energy Centre on Wednesday, Oct. 2. “The longest stay a Lakeland family has stayed is 199 nights. We actually had a family who utilized the house nine times for follow-up treatments.”
The Ronald McDonald House charity was established in Alberta 1985.
“We’ve become Canada’s safety net for families with sick children,” noted Jason Evanson, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Alberta (RMHCA). “It doesn’t matter if we’re serving a family today, tomorrow, or back in 1985, there’s an impact being created.”
The charity has grown from providing overnight accommodations to creating family wellness centres.
“It’s absolutely important that we provide a pillow for somebody to rest their head on, but it’s so much more than that now,” Evanson stressed. “We try to look after all of the necessities of day-to-day living within our houses so that families can focus on their children getting better. We know through research that when families are close to one another in medical crisis, and close to other families who are facing similar crisis, that the wellness of that family and their entire network is so much better. We’re not only housing, feeding, and supporting through programs families that stay at the Ronald McDonald House, but, in many ways, we’re helping those families stay healthy and get healthier.”
According to Evanson, 65 per cent of families in Canada don’t live close to a children’s hospital.
“When your kid gets seriously sick or injured, you have to pack up, often with little notice, and go to a city that you may be unfamiliar with in order to deal with some of the most challenging things that you might experience in your life,” he continued.
The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) has 15 locations coast to coast, with three in Alberta and a fourth currently under construction in Medicine Hat. They’re looking at expanding their current facilities because “every 20 minutes a family arrives at a RMH in Canada,” Evanson said.
“We’re barely scratching the service when it comes to need. What we know is last year there were 2,800 families that were turned away. Those were families that came onto the wait list at our houses, but we couldn’t accommodate,” he continued.
At the Edmonton house, plans are in the works to offer more rooms to families who need them.
“We’re looking at converting two two-bedroom suites into up to six-bedroom suites for families that can stay so we can increase the number of families from the 35 that we’re serving now to perhaps 41,” Evanson detailed, adding the Calgary location has added four suites in the last year.
RMHCNA isn’t stopping there. Evanson said land has been acquired adjacent to the existing facilities to add on in the coming years.
The partnership between RMHCNA and McDonald’s restaurants has been a success since the charity was launched. Evanson described the fast food chain as their “founding and forever partner.” Thirty per cent of their expenses are covered through gifts that McDonald’s provides and the remainder comes from fundraising.
One of the ways McDonald’s collects money for the houses is through McHappy Meal purchases, with a portion of sales being donated.
Through the stores in Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Vegreville, and Wainwright, owner and operator James Richer said those locations sold 200,000 McHappy Meals throughout 2018 and up until Sept. 30 of this year.
Whether he was working for the corporate side of McDonald’s or as an owner, Richer noted he’s always been involved with fundraising for RMHCNA.
Richer was reminded of the importance of the RMH when his grandson became ill, and seeing what his son went through caring for a sick child.
“He was lucky enough to work for me, so dad paid him while he took time off to deal with the family and the illness. But, then I saw everything else that was going on: the emotional, spiritual, and the financial. I can only imagine the people that don’t have the same situation that he did,” he expressed.
Local events such as the Winterland Invitational, a hockey tournament that sees atom and peewee teams come to Bonnyville, Glendon, and Elk Point to compete in February, raises funds for the RMHCNA.
“One of the things that impressed me when we did our first Winterland Invitational was the amount of community and business support. It just poured in, when I say poured in, we had aspirations of monies that we wanted to raise… Our first event in 2017 raised over $100,000,” Richer exclaimed.
The Winterland Invitational isn’t the only local fundraiser for the RMHCNA. Plans are already underway for the Run for RMHCNA and the Lakeland Charity Golf Classic in 2020. All of the money raised goes toward helping Lakeland families and others who utilize the Alberta houses while their children seek treatment.
Skiba said, “The houses may be in Edmonton, Red Deer, and Calgary, but it’s our families, our neighbours, our friends, and coworkers who are utilizing the houses and the programming that’s supporting those families the most during the most stressful times of their lives.”
