I am sure you have likely heard of the Ronald McDonald House. Today we get to hear first-hand about what the great organization does from Jordan Marie Quayle, the Director of Community Fundraisers for Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest (RMHC-UM).
Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest is an organization you can support at RaiseUp by selecting the “Children/Orphans” cause.
Alright, let’s hear from Jordan!
RaiseUp – Hi Jordan! Many of us have heard of Ronald McDonald House, but can you help us understand what you do.
RMHC-UM – The word that best describes Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest is hospitality. Our goal is to provide a warm, welcoming place for families during their child’s serious illness or injury. By providing a range of services including meals, lodging, and schooling, we strive to keep families close during their difficult times. Staff, volunteers and our engaged community members are working to ensure that each family we serve is greeted by a home-away- from-home atmosphere. When a child’s health is at risk, a family’s world can feel like it’s falling apart. RMHC-UM helps these families land in the hands of a loving, sympathetic community when they need it most.
RaiseUp – Thank you! Tell us a little bit about your history in the Upper Midwest.
RMHC-UM – We began serving families with seriously ill children on October 20, 1979. A small but determined group of parents, physicians, friends and local business owner operators worked together to purchase and renovate a former boarding house near the University of Minnesota campus. On opening day, the House had room for just eight families. Now, 38 years later, the organization has grown considerably. We are serving 5,000 families a year at four Twin Cities metro locations, three being located inside local Children’s hospitals.
RaiseUp – I know there are many ways to support RMHC-UM. What are some sorts of things that donations and funds go toward?
RMHC-UM – At Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest, a donation of a paper plate allows a dad to grab a warm meal, served by Cooks for Kids volunteers, and quickly return to his child’s hospital room. Laundry detergent allows for families to clean their child’s blanket, or their own clothes after never expecting medical care for so long. Monetary donations allow us to support over 5,000 families a year with operations of our four sites. When people donate funds to our organization, we are very grateful. Resources are used to cover families support services and activities, our K-12 school and the range of operational costs.
RaiseUp – Thank you for helping us to understand at such a personal level. I had no clue you even offered K-12 school! That’s amazing.
RaiseUp – Can you share some of your highlights since being part of RMHC-UM?
RMHC-UM – Yes, I have many. Here are just a few.
- On December 16, 2016 was one of the coldest days MN faced last season. On this day, a pipe burst at the Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest Oak Street location causing a half million dollars in damage and 15 displaced families. Although it was devastating, staff and volunteers focused on still providing a home-away- from-home for families who have child facing serious illness. Community partners were immediately engaged, everyone on-site was quickly joined by those who were away at the time of the flood. Together, affected families were moved to a local hotel. Families were supported through the unfortunate situation while expressing extreme gratitude and hope for restoration. The whole ordeal was a testament to our mission and service to families who are already faced with so many challenges of being away from home. The aftermath continued to include staff, volunteer, and community engagement efforts including media partners to help spread the word and message of restoration. Here is the News Coverage.
- At Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest, the power of community is always incredibly moving to witness. Just other day we had a group of teachers pull up with almost 1,000 pounds of pop tabs to be recycled- more than 1.4 million tabs. In just one year, teachers and students from three schools leveraged their collection efforts for our cause. Among other reasons, motivation sprang from the loss of a student to childhood cancer. RMHC-UM directly serves families who never thought they’d need us…until they did.
- In 2016 we realized a record number of community partners raising a record number funds on behalf of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest. Nonprofit professionals would say monetary support is the most beneficial type of support an organization can receive. With this, fundraising efforts to support an agency’s mission are critical and 2017 has continued to bring generosity to RMHC-UM. We see our agency as being one of numerous worthy charitable organizations. With this, our organization’s leadership considers it an honor when a community member choses us as a beneficiary of an event or effort they plan. By encouraging community fundraising events, we increase revenue to support our programs without incurring the cost of additional salaried development staff who would normally plan and execute all fundraising events. In May, we were gifted an opportunity that we could never have imagined. A bride turned her canceled wedding into a charitable celebration for RMHC-UM by donating her nonrefundable venue. With this, RMHC-UM volunteers were invited to enjoy in an evening of good food and appreciation. In today’s divisive times, it was an incredible party and picked up by the news outlets as well. Here is the News Coverage.
RaiseUp – Incredible! It take a great organization and good work to attract that kind of support from the community. Well deserved and we hope you only continue to see more support like that.
RaiseUp – I think it is hard to fully understand the need for your services until someone you love is personally affected. Can you help those of us who haven’t experienced it understand better?
RMHC-UM – Families using our services never thought that they would have needed us. The following videos, one highlighting our sites and two sharing family stories best capture when and how we help.
RaiseUp – Thank you! It is pretty clear from all that you’ve already provided that Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest is making quite the impact. Is there anything else you can share about the impact you’re making?
RMHC-UM – We actually have impact statistics and antidotes from many sources including family experience surveys, intake forms, comment cards, staff roundings, and K-12 accreditation required statistics. We find the most understood way to learn of our impact is to hear it directly from a families experience here.
RaiseUp – Besides raising funds, what else can people do to help your organization?
RMHC-UM – We rely heavily on volunteers. Last year alone, volunteers contributed over 61,000 volunteer hours logged. That is the equivalent to almost 30 full-time employees.
Volunteers can serve through our Cooks for Kids meal program. Cooks for Kids volunteer meal groups plan, prepare and serve meals to Ronald McDonald House families at all four of our Minneapolis/St. Paul locations every day of the year. Feedback from families consistently tells us that this is the most appreciated service we provide. After long, stressful days of appointments and treatment, families truly look forward to warm, home-cooked meals.
Another way to get involved with Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest is the Pop Tab Program. Collecting Pop Tabs is a fun and easy way to support the House. Collected tabs get recycled and the proceeds get returned to the House.
From everyday basics like hand soap, trash bags, and paper products to shelf-stable meals and snacks, the items on our Wish List make our home-away- from-home more comfortable for families. Additionally, we often have an immediate use for bread, dairy products, eggs, meat and fresh fruits and vegetables.
RaiseUp – Jordan, thank you so much for taking the time to share all of this information. It is clear that you and your staff our busy helping families in need.
Readers, you can learn more about Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest on our nonprofit page.
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